Dark Bonds
by AJ Katon
Summary: X-23 meets a new mutant that helps her against the returning Hydra. However this mutant carries some problems of his own and the two must team up to get through their adventure. Who is the mysterious Marcus and what is he searching for?
1. Chapter 1

Dark Bonds

Fiction Rated T-English- General/Romance-X-23

Disclaimer: I do not own X-23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Brief Summary: X-23 meets a new mutant and with this meeting she slowly develops her own feelings and gets into the mutant's family problems while trying to sort out her own.

Ch.1 Tired yet not alone

Cheeseburgers. That's what was on the supposedly deceased mutant known as X-23 had on her mind at the moment. It had been three days since she last ate anything and the fatigue was starting to get to , her depleted stamina wasn't caused just by hunger. It was also from lacking direction for her new life. After succeeding in taking down HYDRA once and for all and faking her death from SHIELD, she was free from her past but she didn't know what to do after that.

Now she was slowly dragging herself across the forests near the country of Canada but close to the state of New York. The female Wolverine's drive for survival was slowly fading after a few months of doing nothing but traveling. Her vision was also leaving her and she was clutching her while trying to shut out the growls of hunger. *"Dammit. I should have snatched more food from that restaurant when I had the chance,"* thought the feral girl as crossed over some large boulders looking for the next town.

The thought of calling Wolverine did come across her mind a few times but she banished them away. There was no way she was going to go crawling to him of all people when things get tough. She can handle herself if anything got in her way. She was the best at what she was trained to do even if she was forced to by her hated stopped near a small waterfall and sat down on a nearby rock to give the matter a little more thought. The calm sound of the water falling to the pool and the quiet wind in the trees actually gave her the peace needed to rationalize her options.

*"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just talk to him. He is the closest thing I have to a father. And he's the only one who can understand…,"* thought the clone as her eyelashes started to fall and close her green eyes. Suddenly she jolted awake and angry as always. *"What am I thinking? Why should I go to him? I don't need him. I don't need anyone."* With nothing else to do X-23 decided to walk towards the pool to get a drink and maybe a splash to keep awake.

After a couple of drinks and a splash of the cold clean mountain water, her heightened senses detected something. Something was coming for her. Something dangerous. She stood up to her full height of 5'4 and drew her adamantium claws. She scanned the area, sniffing around for her mysterious attacker. Luckily her sensors picked up a gun cocking behind her and she jumped out of the firing range.

The x-clone easily maneuvered through the trees until she got to a high branch and spotted gunman. She sprung from the tree and pounced on the sniper slicing the gun into pieces and knocking him unconscious. X-23 decided not to finish him off but she'd take anything useful from him. She managed to snag some money and a map of the area. She also figured out who he was working for from the mark on his shoulder. HYDRA's symbol. HYDRA. They were still after her.

*"Hmph,"* snorted the battle ready fourteen year old, "Let them come. It'll feel good to destroy them again." She ditched the sniper and made her way through the forest with a new drive for surviving. She would make sure that HYDRA was gone this time as soon as she had a plan.

* * *

In the shadows...

Another HYDRA sniper was taking aim at the runaway weapon child with precise aim. *"Now I have you, X-23,"* thought the cloaked assassin. He took the shot and hit the mark in the leg.

X-23 let out an anguished yell as she felt something hit her right leg. She fell to the ground but caught herself on all fours, feeling sluggish. After getting back up she examined her leg to find a dart in it. She pulled it out but was too late to stop the drugs within it form kicking in. Now her entire system felt like it was shutting down and her eyesight was becoming dark.

"She's been tagged," yelled the unseen sniper into a walkee-talkee, "Take her down! Now!" At that command more HYDRA troops appeared and began to encircle the tranquilized target. All were armed with the same rifle their mysterious commander had and a few capture nets.

However the feral fighter lived up to her name as she evaded capture and defeated all the troops with ease. All ten soldiers lay on the ground unconscious and heavily bruised. The mutant in question was panting rapidly trying to catch her breath and work through the drug in her body.

"Very well done X-23," called a familiar voice that was stepping out of the shadows, "Your form is still great even in your weakened state." X-23 shifted to her right, claws still extended to see the ugly face of one of HYDRA's tracker."Gauntlet" she said with obvious rage in her voice and a low growl, "I thought you were dead. I saw to it myself." "Foolish child," Gauntlet chuckled, "Did you really think you could destroy Hydra with a few bombs? Well more on that later its time to come back."

X-23's reply to those words was a swift lunge for Gauntlet's heart. However the drugs were starting to take a bigger effect on her and her strength was draining even more. Gauntlet decided to take out a hidden gun and striking the fourteen year old on the head knocking her away a couple of feet away from him.

X-23 flopped to the ground on her stomach as her body was shutting down till the poison could be worked out. Out of the corner of her right eye she saw Gauntlet make his way toward her with his sadistic smile. Then everything went black.

* * *

*"_Listen kid whenever your in trouble just come to me. I'll look out for you_. _I'm the closest thing you have to family. Your feelings you can't fight them anymore."*_

"Logan." said X-23 as she woke up in a bed of sweat after letting her healing power do its job. However it would still be a little while before she would be walking on her own.

That's when she realized that she wasn't in a Hydra prison cell. She was inside a cave in the deeper part of the forest next to a well-lit fire with a few fish cooking on it. She also realized that she was covered with a couple of bandages and a bed cloth that was still warm. Whoever was her mysterious healer was close by.

Suddenly she sensed movement coming from outside the cave and prepared to leap out at whoever it was. A dark hood came into view so she jumped into action releasing her claws and lunged for his heart. The mysterious figure blocked her attack by pulling out a dark object and countered her. She fell on her back in shock and felt like she was about to pass out again. The dark being kneeled over to her right side and gave her an examination.

He placed a hand over her forehead and said, "It's not a good idea to move around so much. You should wait until your ability can get rid of the poison." He took his hand off her head and sat down beside her. "Don't worry. As soon as you can move you can go whenever you want."

She felt that he was telling the truth with her heightened senses and decided to take his advice and rest. Before she drifted back to sleep she asked, "Tell me, who are you?" The young man smiled and replied, "My name is Marcus."

Ch.1 End

Well here's my story attempt. Please criticize and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X-23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch. 2 Unlikely Alliance

Two days past since the Hydra attack and X-23 was healed completely. She woke up refreshed and ready for anything but was still hungry. The chestnut haired girl sniffed around until she noticed three apples and a cup of water laid out for her. She gulped down the breakfast and chugged down the water instantly.

"So you're finally awake," said an unseen voice outside the cave. X-23 turned around swiftly to attack the possible enemy with her four unsheathed claws. "Whoa, whoa! Wait it's just me Marcus," said the 5'9 foot tall boy as he came inside the cave with his hands up. However this time he wasn't wearing the black hood he had the day he came to her aid. Now he was wearing a black T-shirt and brown baggy pants. X-23 also studied his face to find that he had a brown complexion with black spiky hair and light blue eyes.

"He seems to be the same age as I am," X-23 thought as she continued examining Marcus, "How the hell does he keep sneaking up on me?" After realizing that he wasn't a threat she retracted her claws and made her way out of the cave. Marcus noticed where she was going and said, "Wait. You definitely don't want to go that way." "Why," demanded the already irritated girl as she continued to walk away. Marcus stepped in front of her, looking serious, "Because that's the area where I found you and those gunmen. It's all on the map."

Before the raven haired teenager could continue he found himself being thrown back into the cave landing on his back. He grabbed the back of his head, wincing in pain as he tried to get up but was pushed back by a foot. A secret adamantium claw came out of it and X-23 held it to his neck. "What the hell are you doing with my map," she asked with high hostility in her voice, "Why do you have it?"

Marcus opened his eyes to see the fury in X-23's eyes, but when he replied he showed no signs of fear, "I needed it to check the area for any enemy camps or ways out of the forest. Now could you get off me? I really like this shirt." He wasn't displaying any hints of lying to her which would have been a deadly mistake for him so she retracted her foot claw and removed her foot from his chest.

"Give me the map back," she ordered while extending her left hand, "This has nothing to do with you so just give it back and leave." However the azure irised boy simply stood up and dusted his pants off. He replied, "Sorry but I got involved the moment I decided to help you. Besides, getting involved in a gunfight and not having any type of information really doesn't sound good."

"Which is why you should give me the map and get out of here" insisted the brown clone as her voice grew more with agitation. Marcus shrugged off her dagger stares and made his way to his backpack. "And let you have all the fun while I run away? Sorry but that's not even an option." "I'm not giving you any choice," retorted X-23 as she drew one claw on the unarmed teenager, "Now give me the map before I hurt you."

Marcus turned around to look at his angry companion in the eye and say, "Look if I help you can have the element of surprise and believe it or not I can actually be of some help to you." Once again he was telling the truth and his words seem to be convincing her to rethink her plan. "So come on. You don't have to do this alone."

Now X-23 sighed in agitated defeat and retracted her claw. She folded her arms and said, "Fine you can help but give me the map. I've got more experience in surprising people." Marcus smiled and began looking through his bag. While looking for the map he continued to talk, "Just so you know, I'm fifteen years old but you probably do have more experience at this. I do have some tricks that may come in handy." "Ah here it is," he finished as he pulled out the paper map.

"Good," said X-23 as she knocked Marcus unconscious and took the map from him. As she ran off into Hydra territory, she whispered sorry to the boy she had left in the cave.

* * *

At the Hydra camp…

Gauntlet paced in his tent as he thought about what to do next. Madame Viper was sure to have his head if he didn't return with X-23. The Hydra leader was in a foul mood after the airbase explosion and was on a stricter no failure policy.

As the mutant tracker continued thinking on how to fix this his mind went back to what happened two days ago. *"Who was that boy who came for X-23? One of the X-men," he pondered as the image of the boy in the black hood came to him, *"No one should know of our escape from the airship or of X-23's survival for that matter. Also what was that strange-"*

His thought was interrupted by a beeping on the table next to his equipment. It was the adamantium tracker that he always used for X-23. He picked it up to see that the target's position was only a few tents behind him. The hydra tracker's dark eyes widened in shock after finding out that the target was this close but didn't appear on scanner until now and the fact that he could hear some screams from the other soldiers. Then an evil smile formed on his face as he considered the situation. *"Well if she wants to play like that I've got a little surprise for her,"* he thought as he went out the back door of his tent. Then an explosion happened.

* * *

A few moments earlier…

X-23 rushed through the forest maneuvering through the trees and bushes while not reducing her speed. Her plan was simple: barge right into the camp and destroy everything in her way. However, she would not kill anyone. She wouldn't take anymore lives like she was trained to do. She would make them suffer though.

The stealthy huntress jumped to a high branch that was shadowed by thick tress so the enemy couldn't see her while she examined the camp. The camp was occupied by a dozen agents that continually moved around but as she expected no one noticed her position. So she decided to sneak into the weapons tent and steal a few bombs to start her attack.

The plan was as simple as it sounded as she easily got through the ten foot wire fence and evaded the guards on patrol duty. With a quiet snikt she released a claw and tore a small hole in the back of the tent. Inside the tent were cases of guns, darts, knives, and most importantly bombs. She quickly took a bag and stuffed it with 10 small circular bombs since she didn't know how much time she had. She also set a few charges to go off in a few minutes.

Suddenly she heard a rustle at the tent door and turned around to see two guards looking back at her. One guard broke the silence by saying, "Hey it's the target! How'd you get in here?!" He was about to open fire when the berserker female lunged at him and his partner to throw them out of the tent and into the open camp. The other soldiers looked with amazement and horror as they saw the guards on the ground and the demonic girl coming towards them.

"It's X-23!! Open fire! Open fire," yelled a scared hydra agent in the back of the camp. The entire troop was about to shoot her when they saw two round objects in her raised hands. Everyone was frozen with fear over what was going to happen next. "You wouldn't," said the soldier in front of X-23 with fear in his voice.

A devilish grin formed on her face and she chucked the bombs at the soldiers. They detonated instantly.

* * *

Present time…

The whole camp had been decimated by X-23's assault. The soldiers were now on the ground unconscious but for the most part still alive. X-23 trekked slowly through the battlefield, surveying with her work. However she didn't celebrate just yet. Everything seemed to happen too easily and there was still one question on her mind. Where was Gauntlet?

Suddenly she sensed something being fired and leapt to her right to dodge it. Several shots were also fired but she dodged them all as well. Then she found herself standing in front of a boulder the same size as the fence from awhile ago. The cornered clone turned her attention back to the shooter only to find that she was wrong about something.

There wasn't only one gunman. It was Gauntlet with five squads of six soldiers beside him. She also realized the obviousness of the situation. It was a trap and she walked right into it. She cursed under her breath at her own mistake and drew her four claws but kept the other two in her feet a secret for later.

Gauntlet laughed viciously at his target's futile attempt at resistance. "Always the rebellious soldier, eh X-23? Why do you keep trying to delay the inevitable," The robotic eyed mercenary asked as he raised his left hand ready to give the order to shoot, "Now if you come quietly, I can promise that your new cell will be furnished. What do you say?" The brown haired female shifted to a fighting stance and replied, "Go to hell." Gauntlet's smile faded and he brought his hand down signaling the guards to open fire. Instantly thirty rounds were fired at X-23 and all expected them to make contact.

But at that moment…

A dark wall appeared before X-23 blocking the bullets from touching her. The drug filled rounds were absorbed into the black mass until it faded away. No one could see what was happening because of a dust cloud that appeared from nowhere. As the cloud cleared away the strange barrier was also gone and something else stood in its place. Everyone was surprised to see the figure before them even X-23 was so surprised that she retracted her claws by accident.

The person blocking X-23 from her pursuers was a brown teenage boy with black pointy hair flowing in the wind, a noir colored shirt with brown pants, and teal eyes. Marcus turned to the surprised girl and said, "I told ya my skills would come in handy."

However the fourteen year old child was not amused by his presence and demanded, "Get out of here! This is my fight! It has nothing to do with you!!" Marcus only stared at the hysterical clone as she pretty much told him to get lost. The still calm fifteen year old reached and placed his hand on her right shoulder. He looked straight into her green irises and replied, "You can give up now. I'm not leaving you here or anytime soon so stop trying to get rid me."

X-23 could only stare with disbelief at this stranger who still wanted to help her despite her problems and her many protests. She was going to object again but stopped when she looked back into his eyes. They were like a calm sea of strong determination, with no chance of backing out of this. So once again X-23 could only sigh with annoyance and defeat.

Gauntlet decided to interrupt their moment by signaling his troops to reload. "I'm sorry X-23, but I don't have time for this. You and your little shadow bender will have to both come quietly. I do have a schedule to keep and a weapon to return," the mercenary said as he also cocked his own rifle. X-23's attention was brought back to Gauntlet after hearing that weapon bit. "I am not a WEAPON," she exclaimed with all her rage returning to her.

"You know if you keep that up you're only going make it harder for yourself when she kicks your butt," Marcus pointed out as he extended his right hand before himself. He closed his eyes to concentrate on something that wasn't in his hand. Suddenly his shadow rose from the ground and became a swirl of dark energy in his palm.

When he opened his eyes to grasp it, the black wave transformed into a black and red katana-esque sword whose length went to the middle part between his knee and his foot. The scabbard resembled a circular arc that was curved going down on his hand and it had dark purple and blue slit inside it that resembled and eagle eye. He placed the blunt side of the blade on his right shoulder and continued, "And she'll have help from a certain mutant friend."

"You are not my friend. You are an annoyance," X-23 bluntly told him with her arms folded. Marcus's face fell a little and he asked, "Oh come on! Why not?"

Gauntlet interrupted them again by firing off a few rounds in the air. Both teenagers locked their eyes on him as his face was red with rage. "Don't you dare ignore me, you brats," he growled, "As far as I'm concerned, we can take you both together. Guards, take aim and fire!!"

Now the tag team assumed their fighting stances with their weapons drawn and prepared to fight. Marcus didn't look at X-23 as he asked, "You ready?" She gave him a small hmph and replied, "What do you think?" He smirked back at her as they both leapt into battle.

CH.2 End

Here's the second chapter with an introduction to the shadow mutant Marcus. I'll try to update this story weekly so be ready for chapter 3. Hope you will enjoy it.


	3. Chapter 3

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X-23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

CH.3 Hit and Run

Marcus decided to let X-23 handle Gauntlet and fifteen troops guarding him while the joker mutant fought off the other troops that were behind the Hydra mercenary. When he approached the first three soldiers with rifles aimed to fire, he spun on his heel to swing his sword diagonally downward. This move caused three large slice marks to appear on all the hydra gunmen as they fell to the ground.

Next another soldier was running up to Marcus attempting to stab him in the back. However the shadow swordsman spun around and blocked the knife with his own blade, sending the shocked knifeman into the three other soldiers behind him. *"Seven bad guys down and only one army to go,"* thought the spiky haired fighter as he resumed his one handed sword stance as another group of soldiers came rushing for him.

At the same time…

X-23 was moving faster than Marcus thanks to her years of training and managed to subdue five guards at once with one adamantium cross slash. When the first line fell Gauntlet decided to retreat to a safer distance in order to tag the rampaging weapon again. Three more troops tried their hand at knifing her but X-23 easily countered them using a spin kick with an adamantium foot claw. The wounded soldiers flew off in opposite directions with face scars.

However Gauntlet was able to acquire the distance necessary to use his stun gun and took a shot at X-23's neck. Luckily his attempt was thwarted by another dark barrier made at the last second. X-23 took the chance to lunge for Gauntlet only to be tackled by two more soldiers. As she struggled to get free another soldier appeared in front brandishing two guns.

He was about to fire when something else caught his attention for a few seconds. Those little seconds were all X-23 needed to escape her dog pile. Before she could maul the attacker in front of her, someone yelled duck and by instinct she did so. Thankfully it was Marcus who warned her as he launched a crimson shadow wave at the dual armed gunman, knocking him into a second guard behind him.

Everything seemed fine at the moment since a large number of troops were beaten and only the two runaway teenagers were standing tall. Suddenly X-23's sensed another attack was coming and immediately scooped up Marcus to get away from the blast zone. Once again her senses proved to be right as a big explosion erupted a few feet behind them. The aftershock propelled the duo into the air for about three feet, sending them deep into the forest and about to crash into about five oak trees. Luckily, Marcus was able to conjure a shadow barrier to shield them from the trees and a lot of damage. After crashing into the last tree, they fell back to earth leaving a large crater trail behind them.

X-23 rose from the crater first showing no scars on her uniform or the rest of her body from whatever explosive device Hydra used thanks to Marcus's shield shadow bending. The laid back boy himself stood up after a few seconds of being in the dirt to dust off his pants. While he did that X-23 scanned the area looking for anymore Hydra agents but found out she was alone with her companion.

"Well from the looks of it we got away but do you gave up," Marcus asked as he raised his right hand over his brow to look around as well. "Never" replied the x-clone as she continued to sniff around, "Hydra never gives up on chasing me. Never." "Man now that's totally obs-"was all the joker could say before X-23 tackled him again in order to prevent him from getting hurt. As the shots kept firing over them, the two teenagers maneuvered on their knees and elbows to the trees.

As soon as they got behind a huge oak tree Marcus tried to gasp to catch his breath and X-23 tried to come up with a plan. Suddenly the shooting stopped and the entire area was filled with quiet. The paranoid child didn't like the ominous silence and felt something was wrong. She motioned to Marcus that on the count of three, they would both check to see if the coast was clear. Marcus nodded and recreated his shadow blade for anything that may happen.

X-23 raised three middle fingers on her left hand to countdown. One. Marcus tensed himself and shifted to his one handed style. Two. X-23 quietly released her two claws on her right fist. Three. Both mutants moved from behind the tree on both sides, ready to fight. However their bravado was met with another surprise attack from Gauntlet. A rocket launcher heading straight for X-23.

* * *

A few moments before the rocket attack…

The demented assassin looked into his visor to pick who he would fire at. After some thought, the huge gun was pointed at X-23 since her healing factor would save her from death. Plus if the boy was hero type and took the blast himself, he'd be dead and it still would inflict a lot of damage to X-23. It was a win-win situation either way. So after waiting for them to come from behind the tree, which they did, he took aim and fire at the unsuspecting girl.

Gauntlet was correct as Marcus leapt in front of X-23 to shield her from the coming explosive. However the hydra mercenary had forgotten about the charcoal haired boy's shadow shield that he used at the last second to shield both him and the girl. As the rocket exploded in front of them in a burst of red-yellow fire, the runaway teens were sent further away from Gauntlet and deeper into the forest. Luckily the shadow shield was still in effect as the bombarded kids as they knocked down a few strong trees along the way.

After a few seconds of flying through the air, they finally crashed back to the Earth and left a small crater behind them again. The barrier was able to save them from any fatal wounds, but when the battle weary tag team tried to get up and escape Marcus was starting to look drained.

*"It seems that he can only use that power a few times before it starts taking its toll" thought X-23 as she easily rose from the rubble again while looking at her injured accomplice. She frowned at the thought that they could be slowed down by a few scratches and a little fatigue. So she decided to bend down and sling Marcus's right arm over herself and help him walk back to the cave.

* * *

After five minutes of quiet ducking and dodging, the teens managed to reach their hiding spot. The girl with no name helped Marcus sit down while he tended to his loss of strength. She sat outside the cave as a lookout for Gauntlet while trying to think of an escape plan. The tan female figured that they had about a few hours before the Hydra retrieval squad would find them.*"Running would be the obvious choice," the calculating clone thought as she pulled out the map she stole, "Looks like North of here is a highway and a bridge that's about half a day's journey."* "That's assuming he can keep up with me" she growled as she thought of the time she might waste on the boy inside the cave. She stood up to trot back in the cave to check on Marcus's healing process.

What she saw had her so amazed that the anger she had felt earlier melted away into curiosity and wonder. Marcus was still sitting in the same position she had left him in but now he was enveloped in a dark red glow. The crimson light was part of his healing shadow ability since all his cuts were fading away and he seemed more relaxed.

After three minutes his brown caramel skin was clear of the previous battle scars and the black and red glow had also faded. Marcus opened his aqua eyes and stood up with his usual happy go lucky smile. "So did you enjoy my little light show," he asked casting his gaze on the fourteen year old question snapped X-23 out of her daze and her usual gruff manner returned instantly. "We need to get out of here now," the codenamed weapon said bluntly, "It won't take long for Gauntlet to catch up us and his little troop will definitely have more weapons next time." Marcus nodded at his companion's point and clutched his chin with his thumb and index, trying to think of a plan.

"How long do you think we have before the next fight?" "Not long," she replied turning to the cave opening to sniff around, "Maybe we have about five to ten hours." The now serious mutant boy kept thinking while X-23 went on with her idea, "Our best bet is to run for the highway. The map indicates that its North from this point and we may be able to make it by sundown." What do you think," she asked as Marcus had slipped on his dark cloak, while not facing her. When he also put on his bag he answered, "I think we should split up." That statement made X-23 frown at him with hateful dagger stares.

Marcus felt her rage his back so he turned to her to state, "I know what you're thinking so stop thinking it. I'm not going to abandon you. It would be hazardous to my health. However all I'm suggesting is that we make it to the same destination in different directions. That way we can trick those hydra men into splitting their forces and better our chances of escaping."

The x-clone agreed with his logic and reasoning but she was still skeptical. This was no big surprise since she never trusted anyone but and herself. So why should she place her trust in a mysterious idiot who saved her life a few times. He didn't even know her name even though she didn't have one. As if sensing her lack of trust Marcus continued, "Don't worry, I promise to get you out of here because I need your help as well. Also it wouldn't be cool if I just left you here to fight on your own."

The feral female was slowly becoming less skeptical of her two time helper's intentions as she listened to his words of promise and trust. When she noticed that he extended his right arm in an arm wrestling position, he asked, "So how about it? For now can you trust me? Just a little?"X-23 was still full of doubt and questions but as she gazed at his hand she remembered that it held a shadow sword in order to help and fight alongside her. It looked nice and friendly much like his face with its trademark smile that gave off no hints of lies or fear.

*"No one is ever this calm. No one,"* she thought with a slight frown on her tan face and her arms folded on her chest in a pouty teenage girl form. However given the facts of her situation and the boy in front of her, the cranky female fighter did the one thing she had done a lot since she met Marcus: she sighed in defeat.

The adolescent team shook hands signifying their trust in each other. Marcus asked, "Hey when we get through this we'll be officially friends? Bonded by fighting." X-23 rolled her emerald eyes at the boy's endless journey to become her friend no matter how annoying he is. However he had proven himself to be an alright person, despite his many shortcomings. "Sure. Fine. **IF **we make it out of this," the hydra runaway replied breaking the handshake.

She took out the map to study it over with Marcus when he inquired, "Hey I just realized that I never got your name." X-23 casted a pissed glance at him and replied in an irritated tone, "If we make through this I may tell. Now shut up and concentrate." That shut the normally calm guy up as helped his angry companion with the escape plan.

* * *

At the same time…

The Hydra Retrieval base camp…

"I'm growing tired of your excuses Gauntlet. You were supposed to have captured her by the end of the day," said a beautiful but deadly woman on a Hydra laptop in Gauntlet's new tent. Her tone was that of a calm yet angry person and that was never good for anyone on the receiving end of her talk. Gauntlet hid his fear and replied, "There have been some small complications to the plan but rest assured Madame Viper. I shall capture X-23."

"See that you do," commanded the leader of Hydra with a terrifying smile on her half covered image, "or you'll have to go through the discipline course. Again." The assassin of Hydra gritted his teeth in fear and rage at the notion of going through his employer's discipline course ever since she first enacted it. He still had nightmares over the segment that involved whips.

"Gauntlet, wake up this instant," Viper exclaimed at the far away mercenary, "It seems that there is a message for both of us." The mechanized hunter looked into his message folder to see what his boss was talking about and found a new message with no name on it. He gave his video cam a glance to see if Madame Viper wanted him to see what's in it. She gave him a nod and he clicked on the file. The email was a QuickTime player message that had a fifty second time length.

With both their interests piqued, the Hydra employee clicked play so he and his mistress could listen at the same time. "Ah Madame Viper and Mr. Gauntlet, such and honor for you to answer my message," said a gruff voice from the black screen player, "If you are listening to this message I have a special proposition for you." Now things were getting interesting thought the two listeners as the voice went on. "There is certain person who is traveling alongside your little weapon that means the world to me. All I ask is for your cooperation in catching him. If you choose to click yes at the end of this message I will discuss the matter for your compensation for any damage he has done and how we can proceed with this little arrangement in twenty four hours."

As the recording was nearing its end the voice finished, "Believe me when I say things are going to be quite difficult for you if you choose to go against that boy to get what you want. So when your own idea in the woods goes wrong, and they will, please give me a call." Then the message ended and the screen had a yes or no icon on it.

Gauntlet returned his attention to Madame Viper and asked, "What do you think Commander?" The woman in the unknown hydra base placed her forefinger to her lip to think about it and answered, "Continue the operation and see how it turns out. If it goes bad, which it shouldn't, we will see more about this person." That ended the discussion as she signed off leaving the Hydra trademark on the screen.

Suddenly a Hydra captain came into the tent and stood at attention. "Sir we have the location of X-23 and her accomplice on the northeast section of the forest," reported the black uniformed man, "We are awaiting your orders sir." Gauntlet closed the laptop and walked out of his tent with the captain behind him.

As he entered the weapons storage he ordered, "Have all the men ready to move out in 5 minutes and turn on their helmet scanners. Set a few explosives around the target's hiding place and be ready incase they try to escape."

"Sir" replied the soldier as he left the tent to relay Gauntlet's orders. The hydra agent himself loaded himself with two shotguns, two pistols, and just for the heck of it a rocket launcher. *Now let's see you get out of this X-23."*

* * *

A couple of hours later…

The Hydra retrieval squad was waiting for their enemies to make a move so they could lock them into their scanners right away. Fifty soldiers occupied the forest ready to strike at the first movement, weapons loaded with the heavy duty drug made for X-23. Half of the soldiers were stationed to go after Marcus while the other twenty five with Gauntlet were going to personally handle X-23.

Another hour of waiting…

The bombs stationed 5 feet away from the cave were set off and the hydra helmet trackers detected two life readings moving north in opposite directions. When the technicians relayed the information to Gauntlet, he consulted the adamantium tracker to see which one his target was. H e growled in annoyance when the tracker picked up no trace of X-23's unbreakable metal skeleton.

*"That boy must be shielding her again,"* thought the agitated hydra agent as he threw the gadget away. It shattered amongst some rocks and left him nothing to use. "Orders, sir," asked the soldier behind the mutant tracker wondering what they should do next. Gauntlet turned up his radio mike and shouted, "B group go after the target to the East!! Group A, with me, goes after the one to the west! Go and capture them both! NOW!!"

And so the chase was on…

B group took off after their subject heading for the east as ordered. The path they were taking was a calm steady one. There were a few trees and boulders in the way but they were easy to evade as the Hydra soldiers pressed on. After a few moments they were able to catch up to their disguised target. The solider in front pressed a button on his helmet to relay a video message to Gauntlet.

"Sir we have located the target and are in pursuit. The subject is wearing a black coat so verification can't be confirmed yet. We will continue to pursue the target until we have captured it." "Well done soldier. Don't report back until you have captured your prey," Gauntlet ordered as his group was shooting on the other side.

Both Hydra captains disconnected their links and continue on. B group was coming closer and closer to the cloaked runaway as they got closer to the highway. Finally one soldier became bold and began firing on the target. The dart managed to graze the unknown prey's shoulder but it didn't do any major damage. Now all the other members of the second group began firing on the supposedly helpless person. Luckily he or she was able to duck and dodge through the few trees that were present and get to higher ground.

When the mystery child got to the highest tree branch that was about five stories high, the soldiers had stopped firing to reload their weapons. One soldier had finished and was about to fire when he noticed that the enemy wasn't running away anymore, but had turned around to face them. The hood had fallen off the teenager's head allowing her long auburn hair to flow in the air.

When the troop leader found out who they were chasing he tried to radio Gauntlet. "Gauntlet! Commander Gauntlet, we have identifica-"were the last words spoken until the link was cut off.

* * *

Elsewhere…

Gauntlet roared as he pulled off his helmet and threw it to the ground. Before he had time to calm down he heard several shots being fired on the frontlines. As the hydra mercenary rushed over to examine the damage he saw that a few of his soldiers lying on the ground. The six beaten gunman were removed from the battle ground as the remaining troops held down a cloaked figure face to the ground.

Gauntlet's aggravation was renewed at the sight of his prisoner still resisting capture even though it was hopeless. He went over to the scene of the three troops placing restraints on the boy and kicked him in the head. Marcus's dark spiky hair was revealed as the hood fell off him after being kicked. The enraged hydra officer grabbed the fifteen year old's head to lift him up and look him in the eye.

When dark charcoal eyes met calm blue sea eyes, the mercenary said, "You think your so funny, don't you boy? Well we'll see how funny you are in Hydra's interrogation cells." Marcus smirked with only his left eye open and replied, "Sounds painful old man but don't worry I won't be seeing your face for much longer." That awarded him a punch to the face. He still retained his goofy smirk as his gaze returned to his attacker. "Or maybe we should just give you up to your mysterious benefactor. I think he wanted you alive."

This made the bruised mutant alert and his eyes open with widen surprise. Noticing the boy's reaction the sadistic mutant continued, "Oh yes we have someone who seems to be very interested in you. So much so that we may have to bring you in alive. Or do we?"

Suddenly two shadow tentacles appeared and ripped away Marcus's shackles and reach for the three soldiers standing next to him. Gauntlet had jumped to safer distance while the unsuspecting gunmen were thrown into different directions leaving only Gauntlet to deal with the changed the 5'9 boy stood up his normal teal eye changed to midnight blue and his normal aura of easy going care had changed to that of a dark red rage that would rival X-23 on a normal day. He shifted to his one handed sword stance with his crimson katana in his right hand.

His now dark eyes focused on Gauntlet's slightly shocked form and the enraged boy said, "You're going to tell me all that you know about that man." The boy's tone had demonic force to it but the Hydra employee was resilient to life threats and drew his two pistols. "What if I don't?" Marcus vanished from in front of Gauntlet and reappeared above him preparing to do a fatal strike. "Then I'll have to break you."

End of Ch.3

Author's note: This was a long chapter for me to write but man was it worth it. Chapter 4 may come a little late next week but I will update. Please enjoy this chapter and anticipate more secrets revealed about our mystery mutant.


	4. Chapter 4

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X-23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch.4 Escape to Anywhere

Gauntlet dodged the death strike at the last second and wounded up next to one of his beaten guards. It would take a while for the rest of his soldiers to come to his aid so he would have to deal with the boy himself. Then Hydra mercenary pointed his two pistols at the rushing teenager and shot four bullets at slashed the bullets into pieces and continued his advance to the older mutant soldier. The shadow mutant managed to thrust his blade into the mercenary's left shoulder, forcing the robot eyed man to cringe in pain.

Marcus continued his assault by drawing his blade back to himself and giving his opponent a shadow left hook to the jaw. He scored another hit with a shadow right back kick to Gauntlet's chest causing the hydra mutant to fall back on his backside. Before he could get up the boy appeared above him and held the crimson katana at Gauntlet's face.

When the dark cloak that was covering Marcus's face again revealed his dark blue eyes of anger he demanded, "Tell me where that man is?! Why do you know him?!" The hydra assassin opened his robotic eye to see the mixed emotions on the younger mutant's face as he demanded answers. He only smiled his wicked smile and said, "Well let's just say that he's made us an offer we couldn't refuse. So now you have us to worry about as well as your mysterious friend."

Gauntlet's words were having the effect he suspected on Marcus because the young shadow wielder back fisted him in the face and pulled him up by his neck. "I want answers old man or else." The sadistic assassin only smiled again as he looked at Marcus again and commented, "So it seems you does have a little darkness in your soul. I wonder what X-23 would think if she saw you acting this way." The mention of the x-clone snapped the threatening boy out of his berserk state as his midnight blue eyes returned to their original calm color.

* * *

Suddenly…

A shot was fired over Marcus head, missing him by a few inches. Three more rounds were shot as they agile boy leapt away from Gauntlet and wound up next to a tree. When he turned to his right he saw three hydra agents going towards Gauntlet, and their weapons were aim at the younger person. One soldier crept down on one knee and asked, "Commander Gauntlet, are you all right?" Gauntlet slowly got up and dusted off his black Hydra uniform and replied, "Yes soldier I'm fine. Just keep your weapons trained on that one." Marcus stood at his spot staring at the hydra soldiers as they inched closer and closer to him. As they inched closer and closer Marcus held his stance ready for action.

But at that moment…

A loud ring came from Gauntlet's radio helmet. The hydra mercenary pressed the button to hear a few words, "X-23… stolen…your…." and it was nothing but static after that. Gauntlet was gripping his gun in rage knowing that something was amiss and he couldn't find out what. He looked up to see that Marcus had noticed his little call and started smiling. It didn't take long for the older mutant to understand the meaning behind the smile so he raised his gun at the shadow bender and demanded, "What have you done boy?! I know you have something up your sleeve! What is X-23 planning!?"

"Huh? Is that her name? Sounds too military if you ask me," concluded the fifteen year old as he stroked his brown chin thinking on the name. His calm and somewhat childish manner was so annoying that Gauntlet finally lost it and started firing multiple shots at him. *"Hmph sucker,"* thought Marcus as he raised another shadow barrier against the bullets.

However as the bullets entered the black mass they were instantly reflected back at the three soldiers and their commander. Gauntlet evaded the dangerous darts by jumping behind a tree but his men weren't as lucky as they fell to the ground. He cursed his stupidity as he tried to reload and engage the mutant swordsman again.

Suddenly a large horn was blowing to the west of the highway making the two fighters turn to see the new development. Marcus's teal eyes widened as he realized what was going on as a sixteen wheeled truck came into view with Hydra's symbol on its side and X-23 at the driver's seat. "Ah crap," he yelled as he ran for the mutant assassin removed himself from his hiding spot as his troops came to his aid. When he saw them he ordered, "Don't let him escape! Fire!!" Right on cue the black gunmen began firing the drug darts as the truck came into view. The door flung open as Marcus leapt inside the huge vehicle while feeling a sharp pain in his leg.

He closed the door and X-23 hit the gas pedal for their getaway. After noticing the dart in his upper right leg, the boy mutant reached and pulled out the drug, before most of the poison could be inserted into his bloodstream. Unfortunately, he felt that some of it had made it inside of him and he wouldn't be conscious for long.

X-23 noticed the lazed breathing of her accomplice and looked at him. "What happened-" she stopped when she noticed the vial of blue serum in his hand. "So you've been tagged as well. Are you going to live," she asked as she returned her sight to the road with her trademark look of anger. Marcus pocketed the cause of his problem and with his own facial trademark he replied, "Don't worry. Not all of it got into my system so after some rest I'll be back in action."

The tanned soldier girl scoffed at his little declaration while turning a corner to gain more distance from their pursuers. After going a couple of miles, Marcus asked her, "Hey you wouldn't happen to have a plan on where to go would you?" That question caused X-23 to press down on the break pedal instantly; making Marcus hit the windshield a little.

X-23 held a blank stare on her face at the question that never crossed her mind. The only two things she ever focused on were "survive" and "run". She felt the same loneliness she had felt all her life knowing she had no place to go. Marcus had sat back on his seat and noticed the girl's strange halt. As if he knew what he was doing he placed a gentle brown hand on her shoulder.

She jerked at the feel of warmth and looked at the brown guy who seemed worried about her. Not wanting to show weakness or go into her inner place of turmoil in their bad position, she shook off his hand and grasped the wheel, trying to think of possible hiding places. After two minutes of coming up with a few that were too far away to get to, the idea of a certain school for gifted children popped into her head. "Xavier," she whispered without even thinking about it.

Marcus raised an eyebrow and asked, "Xavier? As in the mutant, Charles Xavier, at the Xavier Institute?" The shocked girl gave a silent nod and hid her face as she realized that she blurted those words out because she was thinking about her estranged "family" member and the mutant school. As usual Marcus, the ever calm goofball, made a joke about it."My, what's this? Even little miss tough can blush?" He received an extra hard punch to the arm. However X-23 had snapped out of her mood and came to the point where going to New York was the only plan she had. "Yes," she replied through gritted frustrated teeth, "Our only hope is to get to the Xavier Institute in Westchester, New York. We should be safe there for a little while."

As she explained she noticed that Marcus had his arm folded and was gazing intensely at her. It frustrated her a lot but before she could ask he countered with, "If they can help then why is it that you don't want to go there?" She turned to glare at him with her strongest pissed look, "That is none of your business. It's just all that we have to go on."The shadow wielding mutant shifted his body so that his hands were behind his head pillow style and his feet were on the dashboard. He also closed his eyes to seem more relaxed and said, "If it's all you have then let's go for it." The brown teenager looked at her with his calm ocean eyes still closed and his smile of trust and no concerns.

She rolled her eyes again at the idiot's ever calm demeanor and started the truck up again. "Well then we're off to New York. As soon as we get past the bridge we can-" Her words were cut off by a sudden rush of sound flying over their vehicle. The two kids covered their ears and shut their eyes by instinct as the strange sound was replaced by an explosion.X-23 opened her eyes first and was shocked as she figured out what happened. Gauntlet had used his rocket launcher to blow up their only means of escape. The only bridge within one hundred or so miles. Now they were stuck, just waiting for the Hydra army to catch up with them with no way of getting out of the fight.

"This is-"she began as she tried to come up with something but was interrupted when her boy counterpart finished, "Perfect."

* * *

Back to Gauntlet…

"Well done, sir," commented a Hydra captain as he surveyed the damage by binoculars. As expected, the midpoint of the bridge was destroyed and the only thing remaining was two broken ends. The organizational troops had moved closer to the eastern side of their target's position to spot not only their prey but their means of escape. Now that they removed the bridge, Gauntlet expected the two runaways to try a futile resistance attack. That would easily be taken care of by the vast number of soldiers stationed around the woods.

The mechanized mutant set his rocket launcher down next to himself to reload while never taking his eyes of the truck. *"Come on now,"* he thought growing a little impatient, *"Make your next move."*

After a few minutes of waiting, the truck's engine revved a little and the front lights switched on. Taking notice of the development, the Hydra Retrieval squad armed themselves and stood ready for anything. However, they were taken back in shock as the truck continued its course towards the destroyed bridge. All the Hydra soldiers let their jaws fall in disbelief until the furious mutant in charge brought them back to reality. "Stop them you fools!! They're trying to escape somehow! Open fire and takeout that truck!!"

As every black uniformed person began to fire, the overly furious diver began maneuvering recklessly to and from next to rocky wall and the onslaught of bullets. "You'd better be right about this," X-23 said through gritted teeth, clutching the wheel. Her still calm accomplice was trying to keep himself focused and awake to ward off the drug until he could get them both to safety. "Like I said, don't worry about it," he responded through a forced smile.

Gauntlet's men watched in horror as their company vehicle caring their only chance of promotion or reprieve from Commander Viper went plummeting off the bridge and exploding in the gorge. Gauntlet unfortunately, wasn't phased by the little light show. *"That boy must have done something to get them both out of there. But what,"* he thought as he walked back to their base of operations.

* * *

Some time later…

The tired hunter sat on a chair in his private tent to rest and think of what to report. This great mishap would not only be his death, or his long hours of painful torture and discipline. Maybe death didn't sound so bad. *"Ugh this will definitely end badly,"* he thought as he rubbed his temples to ease his headache, *"Maybe I can find a way to find those two before-"* Beep. Beep. He was cut of by the ringing on his Hydra laptop knowing exactly who it was.

He groaned for a few seconds before answering the call. As the image of Madame Viper appeared Gauntlet began his apology, "I am sorry Madame Viper but-""Spare your sorrys fore another time Gauntlet. Have everyone return to the base immediately." Gauntlet was stunned by her comeback for a few seconds before asking, "But Madame what about the weapon?" The devilish woman formed a cold smile on her red ruby lips and replied, "Don't worry we'll get her. I am just having everyone report back to us." "We have to go over a new plan with some new," she paused as a 6 ft tall man walked next to her out of the darkness with the same evil smile, "friends."

* * *

Earlier…

During the crash…

As the truck was about to go over the edge, Marcus had X-23 open her door. Although skeptical, she undid her seatbelt and kicked it off. She was about to ask what to do next when she met an unexpected surprise. Marcus had grabbed her from under her arms and launched himself and her out of the truck in an embrace.

Now they were both falling to the rocky ground below with no safety and only themselves to land on. Marcus, still holding on decided to play his trump card and summoned a large mass dark red shadow to himself and his hugging partner. When it came the teens were engulfed in a sea of darkness, completely numb to feeling and life.

X-23 couldn't believe what was happening. One second she gets hugged (which she will kill Marcus for later), the next she's being whisked away to a place of nothing but shadows and zero-visibility. After what seemed like hours, her sense of pain is renewed as she and Marcus were flung out of the shadows and into a few crates in a storeroom. She straightened herself and sat on her knees trying to survey her surroundings and check to see if all of her made it back in one piece.

After checking and everything came up clear she growled and leapt for Marcus, grabbing and lifting him up by his neck. "Just what the hell did you think you were doing," she demanded shaking him a little before letting him go to stand on his own feet and explain himself. However the shadow bender had lost his concentration after the shadow teleport and the wonder drug had finally claimed his system. Before he fell to dream land he managed to squeeze out a few words in a slurred voice, "Wel…welcome to..the Big….uh Apple" and fell back unconscious.

Not even the battle-hardened and serious clone of Wolverine could suppress a small giggle from the boy's drunken words. Seeing that they weren't going anywhere until her companion was up and running, she decided to get some sleep as well. She grabbed two long sheets, slipped one on Marcus and found a nice spot to sleep on. Choosing a comfortable spot in a corner she dozed off and slept a calm dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next day around 8 a.m....

In the Xavier Institute...

"So you had her for a little bit but then she just disappeared, Chuck?" asked the mutant known as Wolverine while he sat on the desk of Charles Xavier. The telepathic mutant himself shifted his hands to form an X and replied, "Yes Logan. A few days ago I managed to track her in the woods nearby Canada. I was about to tell you this earlier but when I tried to pinpoint accurate coordinates she vanished."

He touched a button and had his futuristic chair move him towards his window to continue, "It really is a strange phenomenon. I can tell she's alive but I cannot see her, not even with Cerebro." "Do you think Magneto or SHIELD might be involved," asked Logan as he stood up from the desk. Professor Xavier gave it some thought since Magneto was the only person ever to evade Cerebro's sensor and SHIELD was the best organization to understand mutants and the X-men.

"No not Magneto. He doesn't of X-23's existence. However we can't rule out the possibility of SHIELD having a connection in this." Logan growled a little at the thought of Nick Fury having something to do with the girl's disappearance. "Settle down. I will try to locate her again today. Hopefully I will have fruitful results this time." Logan grunted his approval and left the Professor to his work.

Logan's mind had been on his clone's well-being ever since their last run-in and the world nearly coming to an end by Apocalypse. He's also started to feel more protective of the students at the school as well. Even if issues between humans and mutants have calmed down for the moment, the war paranoid mutant wasn't going to lose his edge.

A few hours later...

A group comprised of the first and second generation X-men had just finished Logan's danger session and they were happy to be alive but very tired and sweaty. A disgruntled Kitty Pryde caught up to her mentor, panting for breath with her hands on her knee to complain. "Geeze...pant...... like are you trying to kill us? What happened to like going easy on us."

"Stop your whining Half-pint," replied Wolverine with a stern look and folded arms, "I was taking it easy on ya. Tomorrow we're increasing the danger room level." That made the young Shadowcat almost fall face first to the ground if she hadn't caught herself. Logan marched off to his room to shower and change before heading out when he got one of the Professors mental calls.

"Logan gather Rouge and Kurt and meet Jean, Scott, and Ororo in the garage. I have located X-23." The man formerly known as Weapon X was already in the hallway running towards the two younger mutants needed for the mission. After finding them in the rec room on the couch and grabbing them much to their surprise, he quickly got to the garage where Jean and Storm were in Scott's red car with the red sunglasses wearing man.

Before Rouge and Nightcrawler could complain or ask what was going on, their abductor had had tossed them into the ruby sports car and took off on his motorcycle, helmet somehow already fastened. Now the X-men were off, racing towards downtown to find Wolverine's very hostile "daughter."

As they sped on the road to downtown, the professor relayed their directions and X-23 position. *"She's going towards Jackson Avenue next to the pizza place. Please exercise caution and make haste. I fear she may not be alone and –"The professor suddenly stopped talking. *"Anything wrong Charles?"* *"It seems that X-23 is traveling with someone. Another mutant, since I couldn't get a lock on him until now. But that's not the only strange part of this."*

*"Then vhat is," asked Nightcrawler who decided to join in on the conversation. Everyone was waiting for whatever possibility the young clone may be doing with someone else given her shortcomings. The professor cleared his throat and said, *"Well it appears that the boy is not is not in danger from the way she's acting. In fact she's seems to be getting along with him. I daresay that X-23 seems to have found a friend."*

The last sentence from the professor caused Scott to halt his car and almost make Logan crash his bike. After coming to their senses and continuing on to their targets position, no one, especially Logan, could shake the idea from their heads. *"X… that girl… has a … FRIEND???!!"*

Ch.4 End

Man it was hard trying to get this one together but it was worth it. Now the two runaways are out of the forest but not out of danger. Hope you enjoy this update and please remember to send reviews and criticism.

Oh yeah the next chapter may be off for a little while I try to get more ideas for it. Plus I'm also trying to write a romantic comedy for one piece so that may take some time away but this story will continue.

AJ Katon out.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch.5 Warm welcome

Around noon...

Downtown, New York...

"Mom," said the groggy mutant known as Marcus as he woke up from his drug induced coma. He slowly got up with a loud yawn and a little lip smacking when he realized that he was in a new room and not the forest. "It's about time you woke up," said an unseen voice he couldn't focus on due to still being the blinds for the window rolled up exposing the fifteen year old to the afternoon sun. He also noticed the frowning form of his partner in crime, X23, standing next to the bright window with her arms folded. "Its around twelve o' clock and it seems you've worked through the drugs while I was sleeping. I woke up two hours ago," she explained as Marcus stood up and started stretching the dregs of tiredness away, "I don't know how you did it but you managed to get us to Downtown New York. What was that anyway?"

"Well to make it simple it was a shadow teleport. It's a talent I've worked on for a year now that allows me to travel through the shadows I manipulate to any place I can think of or at random," he explained after finishing his morning ritual with a neck snap. "So your saying it was luck that we got this close to the Xavier Institute?" "Oh come on that hurt X. Can't you have a little faith in me?"

"Well that thing you did back in Canada didn't win you any good points," she recoiled with a slight growl. Marcus looked at her with a confused innocent look and tried to find out what he did wrong. He squirmed when he remembered that he tackled and hugged her while initiating his escape plan. "H-hey now, I only did that because in order to transport with you I needed physical contact and-" "Just shut up and forget about it," the irritated clone said moving from her spot and looking the scared boy in the eye, "and don't do it again."He only gave her a slight nod as she continued to talk, "And another thing what did you do to my clothing?" This time Marcus was completely dumbfounded by her question as he replied, "Okay I really don't know what your talking about." "There's a strange smell coming from my clothing that smells the same as you do." "Well it may have been a day or two since I last-" "Finish that sentence and you get a adamantium foot claw up your ass," she stopped him before he could say his last insulting words.

"Besides its not sweat or blood or any of those foul smells," X23 continued as she raised and looked at her gloved hand, "Its not a bad scent just different." "Oh," her companion announced snapping his fingers, "You must really have a good nose. It took me a few years to pick up the shadow scent." The long chestnut haired girl folded her arms and asked, "Let me guess: it an ability of yours used to track people." Marcus gave his usual smile while he wagged his right finger to explain, "Actually its just the unique and leftover scent that comes from the shadows. Normally no one could know of it under normal circumstances but hey we're not exactly normal.""You'd better be only counting yourself. Now come on we've gotta continue to the school. We still have a long way to go," she said as she made her way to the door. She paused and turned to look at the shadow bender, "Can you teleport us one more time?" "Sorry but that only works at night where there are a lot of shadows. Plus I still don't know where the place is." The fourteen year old girl hmphed at one of her better ideas not being able to work.

"Well I guess we'll have to walk then," she said as she opened the door. "Wait," called Marcus as he walked behind, "Lets take a little break and go get a bite to eat first. Plus this is New York let's take in the sights." However the tan leader of the duo wasn't so thrilled, "I don't have to time to look at buildings I've already seen before and I don't care if you are hungry." Her argument was lost on the growling of her stomach. Marcus smirked and joked, "Wasn't my stomach that's growling?"

X23 turned around to hide her blushing face from the idiot. *"**Wait what am I doing,"*** she thought over still not looking at the now laughing boy, ***"Grr this is all that idiot's fault."***

* * *

Later...

The tag team mutants had walked around New York City for about two hours. They visited a burger place to grab lunch and two department stores to get X23 some new clothing. It took some convincing but the sales clerks and Marcus had persuaded the not very fashioned sensed girl to switch from her usual uniform to a white T-shirt with a pink flower design and brown Capri pants. She still didn't see the point of it until the goofy boy explained to her that walking in disguise may increase their chances of getting to the X mansion without detection from their pursuers. However the now cautious boy stuffed her torn uniform into his backpack along with his cloak seeing as his regular cloths would serve him better at being normal.

Afterwards they made their way to east side of town due to X23's direction. Marcus felt a little bored so he decided to ask," So about Xavier's school, were you invited to join once?" "No," she responded with a bit of an attitude thinking on the first time she broke into the mansion to meet Wolverine, "I found out where they were through some government computers and broke into their home. I was able to take them all on easily before I left."

"No way, you actually fought against the Wolverine and the X-men and won," the amazed teenager exclaimed. "Shut up and keep your mouth shut before someone hears you," she scolded as they crossed the street to Jackson Boulevard. "But its so cool that someone I know can handle herself against one of the best mutant groups around besides Magneto's gang." It was then that a thought came to the eccentric brown guy.

"Hey so how far am I on your ladder of trust," he asked dying to know where he stood. The 5'4 female didn't look at him as she continued to walk and replied, "Your still an annoyance but you've proven to be a good resource. So your an accomplice that's all." Marcus thought it over for a second and said, "Ah well I'll take it. Still it makes sense you'd fair well against the X-men seeing as you're strong and-"The carefree boy came to a halt on the sidewalk on the curb three blocks from the local pizza place. Noticing his lack of movement X23 stopped as well and said, 'If you don't hurry up, I'll leave you behind." Since he didn't respond she turned around to see that his aqua eyes were bulging out in surprise with his left finger raised up and his jaw open. The girl with no real name raised her brow and asked 'What?"

After 3 minutes of silence, Marcus finally said, "It all makes since now." X23 decided to wait a little before punching him from his sudden lack of brain power. "The healing ability, the claws," he continued causing the teenage clone to fidget at where he was going with this, "The powerful death glare that could make the Juggernaut flinch. It's all so clear. Your Wolverine's d-"

A hard left hook was delivered to his gut causing him to fall to the ground, clutching his hurt body part. "Ah why? Why? Oh the humanity," he cried silently as his attacker crouched next to him. With only one dark green eye shown because of her long brown hair she said, "If you ever try to complete that sentence, I will end you. Right here. Right now. Understand?" Any passerbys kept walking along not wanting to end up like the broken boy on the ground.

This time Marcus covered his mouth and nodded, convinced he had just seen a demon stare right into his soul. After the little ordeal both continued towards their destination only to stop at a red light. "So how long do you think they've been following us," Marcus asked placing his hands in is pocket. "For a few blocks now," indicated X23 as she quietly sniffed for their pursuers, "They're hiding in the crowd behind us. There are only two of them." They both gave each other a questioning glances at the fact of only two people being sent after them.

"There's one more thing," the battle ready girl added before taking one more sniff, "These people... they have the same scent as you." That statement caused Marcus to switch his facial expression from calm to surprise and to a smile. He turned around to confirm whether his suspicions were true and face the enemies. To his quiet non surprise he recognized the two mercenaries.

One was a 5'11 tall skinny white woman with long spikey orange hair with a red designer shirt, similar to X23's, with blue jeans. The other was 6'6 muscular black man that was bald with a no sleeved white T-shirt and black combat pants. As the crowd continued on the mutant teens eyed their opponents when the woman said with a malicious grin, "Ah little Marcus so nice to see you again. We've missed you."The bald emotionless man only folded his arms but said nothing while the fifteen year old replied, "Tamara. Gen. Still the same bastard couple as usual." X23 was a little surprised to hear Marcus talk his usual tone but found out that his calm blue eyes took on a darker shade of blue. "Aw now Mark that hurts. We've been so worried about you ever since the island incident. You've left the place almost completely destroyed."

"Yeah well I had to since we're enemies now. But it looks like I didn't do a good job though." The dark giant started to tense at Marcus's words but the strange redhead calmed him down with a pat on his shoulder and continued, "Now Marcus don't be that way. There aren't enough shadows here for you to use your ability and besides," she paused as she placed a manicured finger on her cheek and smiled, "You've never been ever been able to beat us.""Wanna bet," he asked before shifting to a fighting stance. "X this isn't your fight so you can keep going. I'll be behind you later." Finally Gen spoke in a deep dry voice, "That is impossible. We have taken a partnership with this girl's creators. We will take you both. Alive." "That is not going to happen," said X23 as she drew her claws ready for a fight.

"Oh dear but I guess its to be expected," whined Tamara as she eyed the shorter and younger girl, "They said you had a little anger problem." The four fighters stared each other down for five seconds then the fighting began.

Marcus leaped for the muscle bound mystery man and tried to kick him in the face but his opponent moved faster than the he could react. Fortunately as the fifteen year old landed he managed to dodge Gen' right hook because that punch was coated with a shiny metallic alloy that left a wide crack in the pavement, causing the ground to shake a little and few people to panic.

***"Damn I hate that armor plating ability of his. If only there was some shadows around here I could,"*** the brown shadow bender thought as he looked at the damage and his opponent. Suddenly he saw a black mass on the wall behind the man. **"Hehe. Thanks for the help Gen."***

Marcus extended his right hand and called his shadow blade to him much to Gen's displeasure. The shadow swordsman assumed his one handed sword stance and said in a confident tone and smirk, "He. Looks like things just got even." Suddenly the titanium man rushed for the younger boy constantly trying to hit him with on of his punches, but each attempt was blocked by Marcus's skill with a sword. As this continued the dueling men separated from their female counterparts.

* * *

At that time...

"Ahahaha such silly boys," Tamara giggled as she watched the battle between Marcus and Gen, "Always like to fight each other whenever they see each other." She turned back to X23 to see that she hasn't dropped her guard. The women eyed each other until the older redhead sighed and said, "I'm sorry but I'm not one for getting my nails dirty. Can we postpone this little fight?" Her answer was an adamantium lunge for her face that she caught with her left hand.

The younger tan girl was angered that her hand was in the grasp of the enemy, especially one that seemed to have super strength. She struggled and struggled to get free until Tamara lifted her up off her feet to get a good look at her face. She stared into the red irises of the fair skinned woman with rage and fury but it seemed like she had something else on her mind.

Finally she said with a smile, "Sorry but like I said I don't like to get dirty so I'll send you off for now." She raised and pulled back her right hand to hit the verde irised girl and said, "Oh and by the way you aren't his type. Sorry," and sent X23 off to the crowded pizza parlor with force. With that done she decided to stroll over to the boy's fight to finish up their assignment.

* * *

Back with X23...

The feral girl had managed to get over pain while she was still in the air but didn't have a plan for when she would hit the ground. Suddenly she felt that she was being caught in the arms off a very familiar and muscular man. When the adult had her and he landed on the ground, he crouched on one knee and held her in his arms. Her descent now done and over she stood up with the help of the biker guy as he waited for her to respond.

She looked at the biker helmet with her usual expression since she already knew who it was. "So its you again," she said with her arms folded and her eyes looking to her right side. Logan took off his headgear to reveal a smirk and reply, "Yeah, nice to see you too kid." She looked him in the eye to get her point across, "I am not a child."As soon as the other X-men pulled in a loud rumble took place where the two mysterious agent were still battling Marcus. Wolverine said, "Kid get to safe ground. We'll handle-" but his words were lost because she was already running towards the battlefield.

"Aw fer god sakes, kid," Logan complained throwing his helmet into Cyclops' car. He also split the gang up in way to serve a tactical standpoint. "Storm we need cover and quick. Jean and Nightcrawler see to the any civilians and get em to safety. Cyclops and Rouge your with me. We're gonna see whose behind this." After giving and receiving orders the three groups split up to do their separate parts.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Things weren't going so well for the shadow bender since he was taking on two mutants that were well versed in team attacks. When he wasn't trying to slash away at the armored giant and his calm yet super strong partner, he was dodging titanium punches and deadly stiletto kicks. Once again he jumped to avoid another punch and landed on Gen's left shoulder.

Marcus charged his left fist with his shadow aura and gave the steeled man a powerful left hook. Gen recoiled from the hit and staggered back a bit for his opponent to strike him with his crimson blade. The sword managed to scratch the titanium plating and Gen fell to the ground. "Forgetting someone little man," called Tamara as she came rushing towards Marcus.

The fiery redhead was about to jump kick the boy but he dodged it by jumping to the left and letting Gen take the it. The armor on the dark man's chest dented a bit as he stood up, unphased by the kick. "Sorry about that Gen," she apologized as she dusted him off, "He's gotten better since last time. Let's finish off shall we?" Gen nodded and placed his hand into hers while Marcus watched in confusion.

The confusion was replaced by horror as Tamara lifted her accomplice off the ground and started swinging him around. After two minutes of spinning she threw the steel mutant at the shadow bender with superhuman force. Marcus summoned his shadow barrier as Gen came close to double punching him. The impact of both powers caused the shield to break and sent Marcus flying towards a wall.

He fell on his butt in pain but before he could get up he was grabbed by the neck by a familiar metal hand. The fifteen year old tried to breath but Gen's hold was strong and he could only hold the giant's hand resistance. "Its over Marcus," said the metallic hitman holding the boy at arms length. "Hehe I'm not done yet old man," the smirking mutant said still trying to break free. The man's mug took on an evil expression as he cocked his other hand, "Perhaps the boss won't mind if we sent you in unconscious." Marcus closed his eyes for the coming punch.

A snikt and a slash was all Marcus heard before he fell back to the Earth eyes still closed and holding his neck. When he opened his eyes he smirked as he saw the swaying of brown hair and the claws of an unbreakable substance shine near his face. He stood up and asked, "So what happened to you? Tamara knock you for a loop?" "You should have told me what ability she had," X23 replied still in her fighting stance, "How was I supposed to know what she could do?" "Your right. My bad."

Gen wasn't so happy to see the tan clone since she had tore a large rip in his protective armor. He placed a hand on his chest to inspect the damage and found a rather large diagonal cut. He growled at the injury and was about to take revenge when his female coworker placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Now calm down Gen. We can get that fixed later so please refrain making too much of a scene."

That seemed to settle down the giant since he returned to his regular neutral face. Tamara turned to the teenage runaways to say," Why do you two have to be so difficult? Why not come along quietly while you can?" "And miss the chance to kick your asses? Not a chance," Marcus retorted while bringing back his shadow blade. The now impatient ruby red eyed girl huffed in a pout and said, 'Always such a brat. You're so lucky the boss still needs you alive."

As if by chance, a dark purple portal formed out of nowhere behind the two mercenaries. For a few seconds no one said anything until someone came through the mysterious space. It was a man as tall as Gen but he was a little slimmer than the muscle man. He had short brown hair in a crew cut style and was dressed in a black dress suit and black gloves and dark sunglasses. He strode over to the adult fighters letting his strange mode of transportation disappear.

"Gen, Tamara, you've been ordered to return to the base," he said adjusting his shades while standing in between the strong couple. However the redheaded strong woman complained, "What? But why John? We have him right here and the weapon x clone. Why not just take them now?" "Because it seems you've attracted the attention of the X-men and we don't need that kind of publicity yet," the mystery man known as John retorted while scratching the back of his head, "And its what the boss wants."

Suddenly the air became colder as the mysterious teleporter emphasized the last four words of his sentence. The two adults tensed a bit at the mention of their orders but it seemed that they would obey since Gen removed his titanium armor.

Before the bald man and the orange haired woman moved closer to the raven haired man, Marcus said, "Your not getting away," and charged at the three beings. He attempted a death slash at Gen but was met with a powerful palm thrust to his stomach. He felt a rib breaking as he coughed up some blood and stared at his opponent in the eye. "You still have a lot to learn boy," the powerful older man said still emotionless, "If you want to beat the one who helped train you." Then Gen let go of Marcus to let him float in the air for a second and delivered a titanium punch to the same spot he already hit.

The bruised body of the shadow bender was sent flying to a brick building. He crashed through the hard structure and wasn't seen to be moving. X23 was enraged and ran to impale the man who dealt the finishing blow to her accomplice but was hit by something electrical. As she fell to the ground she saw that the newcomer had a strange new gun with him with the Hydra symbol on it. The worse part was that she found that she couldn't move due to the possible stun gun.

Tamara took the gun from her black haired coworker and set it for a higher frequency of stun. Then the strange older woman stepped over and crouched next to the bound form of X23. "Well looks like I gotta say by for now. Hope we get a rematch okay," she said holding the gun to the stunned girl's face, "Oh and take care of that little idiot for us. There are big things in store for him." And she zapped X23 with the new weapon.

* * *

The next day...

On an uncharted island...

A ten story airship was being docked in the hangar of an even larger jungle base on the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The organization behind the mysterious island fortress was the international force known as Hydra. And at this moment the commander of the weapons organization, Madame Viper, was conversing with the man who told her about Marcus.

"Why did you let them go? Your people could have easily taken those two from the X-men and have them here right now," Madame Viper demanded to know as she banged her gloved fist on her glass table. "Now Madame Viper," the man whom she recently gone into a partnership with replied, "There is no need to rush these things and plus we don't know how far SHIELD's connection to the X-men has become. We must become cautious." The mysterious man's rational words had the effect he desired because the devilish woman's attitude calmed down.

The leader of Marcus's pursuers was a well toned brown man with long white hair and light blue eyes. His clothing consisted of a white dress suit and pants with a long black overcoat. As he laid back on the couch made for the meeting between the two bosses he continued in a his trademark charismatic tone, "It'll be fine if we let them have a little RR before we collect them. If you beat the product too much it'll break during its test run."

"Hmph. You talk like we have more than a business connection and yet you haven't even told me your name or why you contacted us," she retorted looking away from him. The ivory man chuckled a bit before complying, "Yes my apologies. My name is Damon. I am a merely someone who has business with the young lad traveling with your girl." The leader of X23's enemy turned back to the probable same aged adult and inquired, "So since both of our targets are together you wish to cooperate with us in order to have your prize delivered quickly."

"Correct Madame but for now I'd like to help your in terms of strength and finances." "We don't take charities from anyone Mr. Damon," the dark haired woman said with an icy tone. Damon shrugged it off and explained, "I assure you, it is not charity. It is merely me giving you a gift for helping me. Why wouldn't I pay homage to the beautiful commander of Hydra."

The woman in question smirked at the man's compliment and said, "Flattery is fine but it will get you nowhere. You can go now and yes we'll stay away from them while I rebuild my empire. We'll talk more tomorrow." With that the well-dressed stood up to give a small bow and exited the room.

After a few minutes of walking he reached a large boarding house that his forces occupied for the moment. Upon entering he was greeted by the familiar sight of his six soldiers. Tamara and Gen were sitting next to each other while watching television with a 5'5 foot tall girl who had low green hair and was styled in combat training clothes. John was sitting by himself listening to some music by himself. Finally the other two members: both females with light brown hair yet different styles and designer clothing, one was messing with her cellphone while the other was sleeping.

The sleeping 4'7 girl woke up with a start and ran up to the man she called boss. "What's going on ? Aren't we going to see Marcus?" The adult with white hair smiled at the girl and rubbed the young one's messy hair, "Soon Teresa. We'll see our old pal again. Besides we still have something that he is searching for." She stepped aside so he could go to his control seat and click onto the computer keyboard.

After typing for a certain security camera in a certain part of the fortress he smiled an evil smile while leaning back in the chair as his followers watched him. The computer displayed the image of blond tan woman who looked to be in her late twenties holding a smaller child with the same hair color inside a secure room. ***"Isn't that right Diane?"***

* * *

Two days later...

"So how's she doing Hank," asked the concerned Wolverine as he watched his fellow X-man go over his clone, X23's medical monitors. The hairy blue doctor, Hank McCoy: a.k.a Beast, continued scribbling notes on his notepads and checking over the still sleeping girl's facial expressions for any abnormalities. "It seems she's going to be all right Logan," said the intelligent mutant with a smile, "Luckily she is, well in a sense, your daughter. The stun gun you mentioned was really powerful to knock her out for this long but I expect her to wake up soon."

The much older mutant nodded in agreement and stared at the sleeping form of the girl created from his DNA. It was definitely a close call when he got to her and that other kid.

* * *

Two days ago...

After the defeat of Marcus and X23...

_Wolverine was still trying to locate the girl after she went rushing into a fight. He was still too far away when he saw the strange light coming from where Tamara shot X23 twice. When he finally got there both teens were unconscious and their three attackers were walking into a dark purple portal._

"_Hold it right there," he snarled as he unsheathed his six claws ready to fight. Only the redheaded girl turned to face him with a grin. "Please take care of our Marcus. We'll be back for him," she said with a wave and disappeared with the two males._

_By that time the others appeared ready for battle but there was only Logan holding the sleeping clone they were looking for. "Logan what happened here," Storm asked as she descended to the ground still using her powers to make a protective fog. "I'll explain later but fer now we need to get these kids to the medical bay. Nightcrawler grab the kid under the bricks and let's get out of here._

_The German mutant teleported the bleeding form of Marcus to the back of Scott's sports car along with X23 as Logan ran towards his bike. With everyone with them the X-men took off to get medical attention at the Xavier Institute._

_End of Flashback..._

* * *

"Logan, Logan," Beast asked calling the gruff man in question out of his dream like state. "Huh what is it?" "I asked if you've been to see the boy that X23 has been traveling with? If I'm correct his condition was a lot worse that hers." The former weapon x thought about the strange mutant that, from what Charles said, was his young clone's friend and the wounds he had sustained from that last fight. "Yep that kids gonna need a little while before he can do anything. Got a couple a busted ribs and a lot of scars," he responded folding his arms while resting on the wall of the medical room, "Poor guy looks like he got hit by a train."

"Hm," said Mr. McCoy as he scratched his chin in thought, "Anything else?" Logan smirked as he answered, "Yeah somehow the Professor thinks that these boy will be up and running in a few more hours completely fine." Hank's glasses fell of his azure furry face from the shocking news. "That's amazing. Is it an effect of his ability?" "Seems like it. Anyway Chuck wants to see em after they've awakened and healed. We got a lot to talk bout."

Beast nodded and continued his examination while Logan took one more glance at the girl before leaving the room. The time was midnight as the adults turned in for the night but some would find it hard to sleep. In their heads all they could think about was what was going to be done about the two new kids in the medical bay and what would befall them when they learned the truth about the young shadow mutant.

Ch.5 end

Okay slightly longer chapter with lots of action and a little more information revealed. Next time Marcus's past comes to light. Next chapter may be a little late so please bear with it. Please read, review, and criticize.


	6. Chapter 6

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Chapter 6: Memoirs and Accommodations

The day after Logan and Hank's talk...

Saturday 10:00 am...

Logan was sitting on a chair next to the bed of his clone X23 asleep waiting for her to wake up. His wish was granted as she stirred a bit in her bed while moaning a bit, causing the tired X-man to grunt in his dreamlike state. The tan fourteen year old sat up from her bed yawning while rubbing the sleep from her green eyes until she realized a few things about herself and her surroundings.

The ridiculous designer shirt and pants Marcus had purchased for her was replaced by a white hospital gown and whatever injuries she had before had been cleaned and bandaged. She was not excited to be in the home of Xavier since she could still remember the hate she had for the man whose DNA she shared still lived here. To make it worse he was sitting next to her right side sleeping as if he really had concern for her well-being.

She stared at the blue maned mutant letting a small growl escape her mouth that woke up Wolverine. The much older man blinked a few times before his vision was clear enough to see the clearly pissed girl staring at him with her fists clenched ready to attack. He stretched and yawned a bit before smiling to her and saying, "Morning kid." She was about to hit him but thought better of it since he did help her and simply said, "Yeah sure."

Once again Wolverine showed his warm smirk at her that she shrugged off by looking in the other direction. She suddenly remembered that Marcus had been injured as well and was about to ask about him when the man she was about to ask interrupted her, "If yer wondering where your pal is, he woke up before ya and went touring around the Institute. Surprised the hell outta me to see that he woke up before ya with your ability and the wounds he had."

Her question answered, the short clone turned away from her somewhat family member to let out small smile and immediately get rid of it. She turned back to Logan with her always seen frown as he stood from his chair to stretch a bit more. "You up for walking around?" Instantly X23 threw the covers off of her and hopped out of the bed showing that that was her answer. Logan walked over to a small cupboard and took out some shirts, pants and socks and tossed them onto the bed.

"Take yer pick and change. I'll be waiting outside the door," he addressed to the girl with no name as her facial expression changed from angry to neutral as she glanced at him and to the articles of clothing. The door swung open as the former Weapon X made his way to it, but before he left he said over his shoulder, "When your done, I'll lead you to the kitchen for some breakfast. After that we can talk." If she was going to object she wouldn't have gotten a chance to since Wolverine was gone from the technological room in a flash.

After a few minutes of waiting X23 emerged from the room sporting a short sleeved light brown blouse, navy blue capri pants, and brown sandals. She didn't seem to like the sandals though. Her form now fully clothed, Logan led her out of the basement through the elevator and to the main hall. The calm quiet of the mansion puzzled her since she knew that there were a lot of students who lived her seeing as she read the files before. Seeing as Wolverine was her only answer for whatever goes on here she asked, "What's going on?"

Logan turned to her with a eyebrow raised to inquire, "What do ya mean, kid?" "Stop calling me kid and I mean were are all the people who live here?" "Oh yeah well you see since its the weekend a bunch of em made plans to go somewhere else today hence the calm feeling around here," he answered relishing in the absence of teenage yelling or angst in the house, "So its mostly the adults here including the guy who treated you, the prof. himself, another teacher named Storm, me, you and your friend."

"He is not my friend," she retorted with a few hints of agitation in her voice. The self healing man mutant raised his brow again, confusion written all over his face. "Huh it seemed like you two were cool the way he acted toward ya." X23 folded her arms in frustration adverting her gaze in a somewhat embarrassed fashion? before saying, "That just how he is. He's completely weird."

Suddenly she saw that the adult in front of her was chuckling a bit which added to her frustration before he said, "You sure do now how to pick em kid." And with that the pair continued their walk to the kitchen in silence save a grin on Logan's face and a confused frown on X23's.

As they entered the kitchen they were greeted by the sight of the brown skinned white haired weather witch known as Ororo Monroe aka Storm chatting with the same spiky haired boy the weapon x pair were just talking about. This time Marcus was clothed in a dark red shirt and black pants with a bandage on his left cheek and an apple in his hand while Storm had on a nice white dress with yellow streaks and her white hair in a ponytail.

When the smiling teenager caught sight of his familiar accomplice he called, "Hey X did you just wake up? Its good to be walking around huh? And the people here are really cool and nice." "Yeah whatever," she replied taking a seat opposite of the teal eyed fifteen year as Logan headed for the fridge, "So I see your fully healed. When did you wake up?" Marcus took a small bit out of his red fruit before muffling, "Oh about an hour ago." "So why didn't you wake me up as well?," she questioned with through clenched teeth as she was handed some fruit and juice.

This time Marcus's expression went from confused to a smile as he answered, "No offense X, but you strike me as the type of girl who'd kill me if I tried that and I'd prefer no claws marks on my face." "Probably the smartest decision you ever made kid," said Wolverine as he and Storm chuckled at the boy's response. This invited a blushed frown from the girl in question as she took a pear from the fruit bowl.

After a few minutes of quiet eating, Storm decided to start a new conversation with the teenage duo. She started with X23, "So young lady what is your name?" Quiet shock fell on both the girl and her so called "father" as they were the only ones who knew of X23's past aside from the professor. "Oh I think its-" Marcus tried to say before the tan girl interrupted him, "I don't have one." Those four words gave confusion to the two mutants ignorant of the girl's true identity on the right side of the table and a grim face to Wolverine.

"Logan is it true?" asked the African mutant as she gravely looked at the gruff mutant. Logan rubbed the back of his neck contemplating what answer he should give to the woman he would describe as a caregiver. With a long sigh he responded, "Yeah it true." That made Storm place her hands on her mouth in shock while Marcus gave the girl with no name a neutral expressionless face.

Storm returned her attention to the fourteen year old as she hid her face behind her long brown hair, not wanting to answer anymore questions. "I'm sorry for asking without considering-" "So you don't have a name, why don't we help give you one?" asked the carefree brown boy cutting into the conversation.

Everyone sprang to life and looked at the boy with wide amazed eyes as if he asked either the forbidden question or the world's most ridiculous question. Since the adults were still recovering from shock only X23 could reply Marcus's inquiry with a, "What?" The teenager of smiles laid back in his chair on the wall with his eyes closed to explain, "Since not having a name does suck, how about we help you out by running a few choices by you and you choose the one you like."

The logic of his idea was dead on and so simple that Wolverine and Storm nodded in approval. Now they only need the consent of the girl in question to go further into the matter. X23 was still a little shocked by the fact that the person she met only half a week ago had asked her such a crazy question but... she didn't think it was such a bad thing.

She had always wanted something new in her wrecked life that would symbolize the end of her painful past and the start of something better. ***"Maybe a new name...could be the start of my new beginning"*** Finally she looked up to Marcus and said, "Fine I'd like a new name."

Ororo donned a smile of happiness while Logan was still amazed at the fact that she would take to the scheme so quickly but dismissed his shock in order to participate with the important event. He even was the first one to pitch names, "How about Kate or Rose?" After a little consideration X23 rejected both. Marcus thought it was because they sounded really pinky and girly and that definitely didn't fit the battle hardened girl.

Probably as a joke the tanned goof ball asked, "How about Xena?" The two older mutants gave him questionable looks while X23 gave him a look suggesting she had no idea what he was talking about. After going into detail about the old television show character she actually started to like the sound of it until Logan and Storm nipped the idea in the bud saying that she needed a normal name.

Now all eyes were on the brown teacher of the Xavier Institute as she looked at the girl, trying to think of some good ideas. ***"This is difficult since we really don't know much about her and since this will be her official name its important to get a good one. Hm without her usual manner she would seem like an ordinary plain girl. Perhaps given that, maybe a plain would be best."***

After two more minutes of thinking, a smile formed on Ororo's face as she opened her warm black eyes to look at the girl. "Laura," she said with no hesitation. The two men only looked at X23 has she considered the name for herself, placing her hand on her chin in deep thought. After a moment she repeated, "Laura" in a soft tone, almost a whisper. She turned to the older woman and managed to form a small smile of her own and say, "I like it. Thank you Ms-"

"Please call me Ororo and your welcome Laura," Storm replied happy that the girl chose her idea as Wolverine nodded his own approval. Marcus, being himself, joked, "So even Laul's can smile a warm smile. That's new." The newly name Laura blushed a scarlet red and rose from her seat to say, "S-shut up! And its Laura to you!" "Alright alright. Calm down Laura I was just messen with ya," he replied still chuckling a bit from her embarrassment. "Well don't do it again," the still red tan girl finished taking her seat again amongst the giggling masses.

***"Logan, Storm, Marcus, Laura there is something we must discuss,"*** said an authoritative yet calm voice through the minds of the kitchen inhabitants. The sudden voice coming from nowhere caused Marcus to yelp and fall out of his seat to the floor and Laura to spring to her feet, adamantium claws unleashed. Wolverine stood from his seat to explain, "Calm down you two. Its just the professor speaking in yer heads. He's a telepath so he can do that."

With this new information both teenagers resumed their seating as the former Weapon X continued, "Don't worry we've been surprised by that too. Takes a while to get used to." Storm addressed the leader of the X-men, "Now Charles these two have not been spoken through the mind before. Please don't scare them like that."

***"Agreed," he said through telepathy, "I apologize to you both for my sudden mental intrusion. I promise not to take you unawares again."*** "Ah its alright Professor," Marcus said waving his hand dismissively as he stood up, "Actually its kinda cool." ***"Thank you Marcus. As I was saying I would like you all to come to my office in one hour with Scott and Jean. There is a lot we must discuss. Until then please enjoy yourselves, there is a lot to offer here."*** With that last statement they knew that the conversation was over and decided to take him up on his offer to have some fun.

Before leaving to work on his bike in the garage, Logan gave Laura a small pat on the head eliciting a small growl from the short girl. Marcus stretched a bit and said, "Welp I going to watch some Tivo. Later Laura," before making for the rec room. Noticing that the girl had nothing to do Storm suggested, "Would you like to help me in the flower garden? There are some roses to tend to." The girl with a new name shrugged her arms and followed the older and taller woman to the front yard.

Once there the hazel haired teen's eyes lit up from the display of different flowers in front of the mansion. She was brought out of her daze when Storm asked, "Is something wrong?" while fetching her watering can. Averting her gaze to her sandaled feet, not wanting to meet the nice woman's gaze she replied, "No nothings wrong. It just," she stopped to shake away her shyness and finish,"these flowers are all so pretty."

Ororo smiled her motherly smile and handed the water can to the confused Laura who took it anyway. The tall X-men member placed her left hand over her right in front of her white dress and asked, "Would you like to learn how to make flowers of your own?" That question made the tan girl jolt a bit then look at Storm with wide green eyes of disbelief and questions to which the weather witch gave a small nod and gestured for the girl to watch her instruction. As she made a small raincloud for the demonstration she managed to catch that same warm smile from the small girl who she knew little about but felt a small connection to her through the small flowers.

* * *

An hour later...

Marcus had decided to wait for the others in the front hall on the stairs. He also decided to try out his shadow ability by taking a nearby shadow and reshaping it into a coin. He flipped the dark quarter in the air a few times to pass the time until he saw the front door open. Tossing the coin one more time he was greeted by the sight of a smiling Laura talking to Storm about flowers apparently. When they reached the stairway the charcoal haired boy noted with a smirk, "Looks like you've found something fun to do. Never thought it would be gardening though."

The smile had left her face to be replaced by a frown by the slightly older mutant's insinuation. "So? Is that a problem?" she asked in a rather annoyed tone. "Nope," he retorted sporting his trademark grin and standing up, "In fact its great. Since you've discovered fun you've been smiling a lot more. That is no ordinary feat to accomplish."

Completely pissed and probably embarrassed Laura leapt for Marcus with full intentions on kicking him in the face. However the sly fifteen year old skipped out of the way and onto the main floor. The fighter girl didn't give up as she landed on the ground and chased after the on who mocked her in the main hall around in circles.

The childish show went on for a few minutes until Logan appeared and stopped it by grabbing both kids by the back of their shirts. After a short reprimanding(to which neither teenager paid attention to) the other two people called into the meeting, Scott Summers and Jean Grey, also entered the main hall back from their day off. With all the required people there, the two adults, two high school graduates, and the two younger teenagers made their way to the office of the man who the mansion was named after.

Inside the office sat Charles Xavier, possibly the world's greatest telepath and founder of the X-men, in his wheelchair behind his desk. His eyes were closed as if he was in deep thought about something until Logan open the door and he opened his black eyes and said, "Please come in everyone," and they did.

As they made their way into the big study he gestured for them to take seats if they liked. Scott, Jean, Storm, and Laura pulled in a few chairs while Logan and Marcus decided to lean on the walls except Marcus's hands were behind his head pillow style while Logan's arm's were folded. The professor folded hid hands in front of him, one over the other as he began, "Now that we're all here I believe its time we addressed the circumstances about what happened to you two, Laura and Marcus."

The air was filled with a serious atmosphere as the professor continued, "To make it simple I wish for you to tell us a bit about yourselves and how you came to be the way you were when we brought you in. I understand if you'd rather wait and rest a bit more before saying anything but if your ready we can start now."

All eyes shifted to the silent and face hidden Laura as she fidgeted a bit trying to decide what to do next. Although she felt somewhat closer to them, her hard life had taught her not to trust in anyone completely and that was something not easily changed. Noticing her reluctant form the Professor was about to say something when Marcus cut in. "Hey Laura," he said making everyone face him including the scared clone, "Just calm down and take a deep breath. If your not up for it today just try again another day. Its as simple as that: either now or wait and plan for tomorrow."

The fearful girl only looked at the boy of a simple mind as silence filled the room again. Jean decided to cut in and say, "It's all right if your not ready. We can postpone-" "No its," Laura interjected turning back to the professor with new life in her eyes, "Its fine I can talk about this right now." Everyone except Marcus stared at her incredulously and after a few seconds the professor nodded and Laura began her tale from as far back as she could remember.

Logan was still looking at his young clone in disbelief thinking that her past in Hydra would keep her from ever talking about it. He also looked at Marcus to see that the bore held a smile of victory on his face while wondering, ***"What the heck is this kid? The miracle worker?"***

As the the time went by Laura revealed everything to the other six room occupants in long detail. Starting from her earliest training sessions and her relation to Logan to the night when helped her escape from Hydra. Next she spoke of the true reason as to why she attacked the X-men half a year ago to the other time she met up with Logan as they tackled the Madame Viper's airship and her faking her own death. Finally she wrapped it up as she recalled her months of travel to the recent run-in with the weapon's organization and Marcus's rescue attempt and and mysterious attackers.

* * *

Another sixty minutes later...

"And that's all I know," she finished as she adverted her grace to her feet waiting for the reactions of the people around here. It was safe to say that shock had captured the attention of Storm, Cyclops, and Jean as they were still registering the information. Professor X and Wolverine wore frowns of worry and concern now that they fully knew what the girl had gone through. Strangely Marcus's face only had a solemn look of neutrality as he closed his eyes as if deep in thought.

No one said anything for a little while longer until the laxed blue irised boy became bold and asked, "So do you feel slightly better?" Laura and everyone turned to the confusing shadow mutant to wonder what he was talking about. "A painful past is a heavy burden to bear for anyone. It's a part of you that you wish you can get rid or at least make a little better so that the pain is more bearable. And even if you tell somebody that you can trust above all others, you're still afraid of what harm you could cause them just from sharing some information. You feel like they can handle it but you'd rather go through it alone than bring someone else into your mess." Now he opened his eyes to focus on the girl only a year younger than him neutral face still on, "That's what you were aiming for right?"

The battle hardened fighter created by Hydra to be a soulless killing machine now had tears streaming down her cheeks as Marcus's words echoed into the office. She tried to cover her wet face with her hands so that no one could see her in her moment of weakness even though it was ineffective. Suddenly she felt herself being brought into a warm embrace and was surprised that it was Storm that hugged her.

The weather witch held Laura tightly as the young girl looked over to Wolverine as if asking if she should let go. The gruff loner of the X-men gestured for her to just do whatever she felt like doing. Now no longer able to hold back, the emotional girl returned the hug to Storm still crying on her arm and sniffling a bit. Everyone remained quiet but knew that the younger version of Wolverine had earned her trust and they held small smiles for it.

After a few more minutes the hug was broken and Laura's tears had dried up as she turned to look at the X-men before her. "I'm sorry for last time when I attacked you. It was... rude and I wish I could do something to make up for it." "How about for starters you just don't do it again," Cyclops replied making the suggestion seem like a joke. The other mutants gave him a stern look except the girl in question since she didn't know much about jokes and just nodded to it.

The professor placed his hands on his desk as he said, "Don't worry Laura you'll have time to make up for it over your time here. Please take a few years if you'd like." The tan fourteen year old looked back to the professor with hopeful eyes and asked, "Is it really all right for me to be here?" "Come on kid you know it is," piped Logan as he moved from his spot to place a hand on the girl's clothed shoulder, "There's no other place we'd want ya to be but here."

Still skeptical the young self healing mutant looked to the other X-men members to see what their opinion on the matter only to see that they also supported the idea of her staying with them. Hiding behind her long hair for a few seconds, the former X23 held a small smile but got rid of it to announce, "Thank you I would like to stay here."

Each person gave off their own version of being glad about Laura's decision. Scott and Jean gave her smiles, Logan smirked as he stood next to her, Marcus smiled another smile of victory and Storm placed a gentle hand over the teenage mutant's own hand and looked at her with a gentle expression, causing the girl to blush a bit.

"Now then," The telepathic founder of the X-men announced, "Laura we will continue this discussion a little later. Now its Marcus's turn." Then the atmosphere became serious again as the other six room inhabitants turned to the young shadow bender leaning on the door, a calm demeanor on his face.

***"Agh knew this was going to come soon," he thought while a small sweat drop when down his brow, "Well it won't due to lie since the Professor's a telepath. Might as well tell the truth and hope for the best."*** His mind made up the mysterious helper of Laura let out a deep sigh and said, "Okay okay. I'll tell you who I am."

Charles Xavier and Laura leaned forward in their seats, possibly the most eager to learn of the boy's true identity. Marcus slipped his hands in his pockets as he begun his story, "My name is Marcus Stanford from Chicago. I'm just a traveling shadow bender on a mission." He stopped as if waiting for someone to ask the question they all had. Scott did, "So what is this mission?" Suddenly Marcus's smile had changed to that of a sad smile, "I have to find and save my family."

All eyebrows were raised to his answers and only Logan ventured further, "What happened to them?" Only Laura and Professor Xavier noted the subtle change in the fifteen year old's figure especially the darker tone in his eyes. "About five years ago my mom and younger brother were taken away from me." Gasps came from only a few people while Laura continued to stare with surprised eyes.

Storm felt some pity and sadness from his words and said, "I'm so sorry for your loss." "Ah its slightly okay Ms. Ororo," he retorted, his eye's slightly open from remembering his past, "I know who has them, I just don't know how to get to them." Now confusion filled the room as Laura asked, "You mean they aren't dead?" Marcus raised his own brow in surprise and explained, "I never said they were dead. I just said they were taken away from my home."

The adults left out sighs of relief after having that slight misunderstanding cleared up. Jean asked, "What did you do after you found out who took them?" "After I reported it to the police they tried to place me in foster care while they tried to sort it out," the homeless boy responded with a bit agitation in his tone, "Naturally I wasn't going to let that happen so I packed up a few things and left Chicago to find them." "Weren't you scared of what you may find," Scott asked a little amazed by the boy's determination at a young age.

"Yeah I was but I also knew that while I was alone something was happening to my only family. I couldn't just sit idly by while that was going on since I had this power." A thought arose in the Professor's mind on the arrival of Marcus's mutant ability, "Marcus about your shadow manipulation when exactly did it happen?" The young mutant thought bit on the question seeing as it did happen a long time ago.

"Oh yeah now I remember," he said snapping his fingers, "When I was six a burglar got into our home and almost shot my mom. Before he did though I jumped in to save her and my shadow barrier came. After that I mostly went by instinct and made my shadow sword for the first time and beat the guy up. We decided to keep it a secret since Ma was a little afraid of what would happen with all the mutant discrimination going on. I think Jacob, my little brother was about two so he probably didn't know what was happening."

After his explanation everyone understood him a little more, mostly why he can't leave people in danger or how he seemed very mature for his despite his goofy outlook. He had seen death before and grew stronger because of it. Now fully curious Laura asked, "What happened after you decided to search them?" Marcus's brighter tone returned as he went on, "Well during the first year of my searching I mostly traveled throughout the US training for the inevitable fight to come and looking for clues. Then I met up with Gen and Tamara."

Laura stood up in surprise and Logan asked, "What's up kid?" "Those are the names of those two mutants we fought a few days ago," she said with anger in her voice. The blue haired mutant remembered the three strange mutants who left the two kids beaten downtown and let out a small growl.

Sensing Logan's growing hostility Marcus put up both his hands in calm down like way and said, "Whoa whoa . I can explain how I know them." "Then do it now kid." The goofball shadow bender didn't wince from Logan's death stare and joked, "Yep you're definitely where she gets it. Well back to the story I met up Tamara and Gen while having a little fight with some guys from the Brotherhood of Mutants."

He noted the surprised looks on everyone's face and explained, "Yeah they were trying to recruit me for the whole mutant Vs humans thing and I turned them down. Not really interested in that when I have my own problems to deal with. So they decided to persuade me and along comes the mutant duo to help bail me out. After some talking I found out that they were with a group of people who also had their families taken and were looking for answers as well so I joined up with them."

"Marcus this group that you mentioned how many of them are there?" asked the Professor closely analyzing the story. "Well there's Tamara and Gen you've seen what they can do, John the guy with the teleportation, Phoebe who can manipulate lightning, and Lida and Teresa, twins who can see the future and the other can make illusions with her mind," The ex member of the mysterious team said counting them off in his hand, "They're also a very strong to boot. I immediately joined them because I felt they would be a big help and they trained me for a few years."

Charles continued to think about the matter but Scott pieced it together, "So Marcus these old friends of yours they work for the people who took your family?" The eyes of everyone else bugged out to see that Scott had figured it out first. It wasn't surprising why the Professor was grooming him to become the leader of the X-men.

Marcus continued his story, "Well yeah Scott. You hit the nail on the head. After traveling with them for about five more years, we finally caught up with the guy in charge of kidnapping our families on an island fortress a couple of months ago." Once again the normally calm boy's eyes took on a midnight blue shade and his voice was hinting of anger, "His name is Damon Cross. A wealthy secret weapons dealer but not a mutant. After we had staged an attack on his place which went very well something went wrong."

"Let me guess: your pals fell in with Cross and betrayed you," Logan stated bluntly seeing as how things could have gone wrong from his perspective. Marcus rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well that's half right but it's not that simple." Knowing that the short explanation would leave even more questions and explained, "Look I really know those guys. They wouldn't betray another without a big reason. Since I don't have all the facts yet its too early for me start accusing them. You don't spend five years with people without getting to know them."

The world's greatest telepath smiled at the boy's will to stand by his friends even if he didn't know what was going on. Finally Storm asked, "What happened after that?" "Well the explosion still happened taking most of the island with it and I managed to escape to the ocean. However I knew that it wasn't enough to kill Damon or the guys. So I've been on the run ever since wondering when they would find me and that's when I bumped into Laura here and we had that little adventure," the fifteen year old finished smiling at his accomplice who rolled her eyes.

With his story at an end everyone turned from Marcus to see the man they all admired as he thought about his analysis. After five minutes, The light bald man spoke, "It definitely looks that you've both been in rather hard times and each time you've prevailed and grown stronger from them. And seeing as your both young I believe you will still have time to grow and learn more about life. I see no reason why you cannot stay here for as long as you like."

The adults and Laura smiled knowing that everything was cool. However only Marcus countered, "Sorry Professor but I can't stay." Laura was the only one to turn back to the smiling boy with a look that sid "Are you crazy" and "Why".

Marcus rubbed the back of his neck again but spoke in a serious tone, "Look its not like I don't like you guys or your place here, it's just that I really can't stay here for too long. I still have to find my family and those guys are still after me. It's not a good idea for me to get you involved."

Suddenly the joker of a mutant felt a sharp pain to his head since Laura had gotten up from her seat and whacked him. Logan was the only one smiling at his clones display of violence while the others were quiet. Marcus crouched to his knees holding his pain while the pain subsided crying, "Owowowow, what was that about Laura?"

"That was because you're still acting like an idiot. Trying to act cool and go face danger all on your own," she answered gritting her white teeth in her usual anger,"Where do you get off saying that you don't want us to get involved? Did you even consider asking us to help you at all?" "Well its just that you just got out danger that was caused by me and I don't want to put anyone else at risk. Besides I've always done things alon-"

_Whack. _another blow to his head as he fell to his knees again until the rough clone pulled him up by his shirt so that he was facing her. He was about to say something else but when he saw the fiery rage in her forest eyes he choice to remain silent while his hand was rubbing the bruised part of his head.

"Who do you think you are thinking you can protect me," the very irritated girl demanded to know as she held Marcus in the air, "I can look after myself and in case you've forgotten those guys have joined up with Hydra so they'll be coming after both of us. If you screw up and get yourself captured who do you think will they go after next or who do you think will end up saving your ass?!"

* * *

Meanwhile...

While this little scene was happening Logan and the others were chatting thanks to Jean's and Charles's telepathy, ***"Heh two points for the kid. Lil joker's not going anywhere as long as Laura's concerned,"*** The feral mutant thought smirking as his daughter man handled the poor shadow bender. Ororo giggled as she thought, ***"She has your ways of persuasion."* **

***"Yeah I almost feel sorry for him. But I really don't want to get into the middle of it,"* **thought Cyclops as he stifled a small laugh. Charles even brought in his input, ***"Hmhm I believe its a good thing. It's so nice that Laura has found a friend."***

***"More like a punching bag,"*** Jean added earning a laugh from the other 4 adults. Soon they realized that they were chatting Laura was metaphorically knocking some sense into Marcus.

* * *

All together now...

"So until we find out more about these guys I'd better not catch you going off without me. Understand?" the violent mutant finished letting her accomplice fall to the floor. However Marcus was equally as stubborn as she was since after getting up he was about to make a counter when the overly tough girl gave him one more look with her arm folded in a the decision is final stance.

Trying to fight off the pain of defeat Marcus only let out a small sigh and tried to get in one last word but the girl with a new name settled the matter by saying, "Hey... we're accomplices right? So just shut up and trust me on this. Idiot." No one said anything after that as a cool wind of peace past through the room.

"Aw Laura I had no idea you cared. You really are a great friend." said the happy shadow bender ruining the moment and causing the self healing girl to become embarrassed. "Go and die!" she shouted at the boy as she turned around trying to hid her face as the adults laughed it off.

* * *

At 4:30 pm...

At the Mansion...

All the students had gathered into the main hall because the Professor called them to do so. Most were wondering what it could be about while others wanted to go to their rooms and sleep. Suddenly the six instructors made their way into the hall as well with Scott and Jean standing next to each other on the top steps, Hank McCoy standing next to the door on the right side of the second floor and Storm standing with in front of the students on the first floor.

Wolverine appeared on the first floor as well leaning next to the wall, sporting his well known serious face which made all the students stay quiet from fear. This went on for a few minutes until the head of the school rolled into the room at the top of the stairs. "Well my students today is a good day because we have two new additions to our school. Please give them a warm welcome as you would anyone else," he announced seeing the anticipation in their eyes, "Now then on to the introductions."

On cue, all the shadows in the front hall sprung to life and converged on the first step of the staircase. *"Kid just had to put on a show for everyone," thought Logan has he slapped his own face. However everyone else was enjoying it when the mass of darkness exploded and the young shadow bender appeared before them, giving slight bows over a small applause.

"Ah yes please say hello to our new shadow bender, Marcus Stanford." Marcus gave a few waves to everyone until the applause died down and the Professor continued, "And now please give a warm welcome to an old acquaintance of ours, Ms. Laura Howlett." At that cue the crowd turned their sights to th top stairs as a girl appeared from behind the professor.

The girl was fidgeting her fingers, a serious look visible on her face as she walked down the staircase, her long brown hair swaying a bit to expose her face to the world. The first reaction of the students were a few gasps and immediate worry since they remembered the last time she visited them. After that they started whispering amongst themselves wondering if this was such good idea.

Rogue was the first to pop the question, "Ah Professor is she really going to be staying here? I mean no offense but things didn't go so well last time." Charles Xavier donned his all knowing smile as he responded, "Yes Rouge. She will be staying here. Some changes have happened and the faculty and myself believe she is ready to become one of us. Oh yes before I forget to mention it she is also Logan's daughter."

_Bam. _Shock and awe filled the room of teenagers as they let their jaws drop and shifted their gazes from Laura to Logan and so on. After a few seconds of staring at the azure maned mutant, he finally answered, "Yep its true." Although it did answer one question it still left many others as the students were still in shock and now looking at the short soldier girl who neutralized them last year.

The adamantium clawed mutant herself just stood next to Marcus hoping that the moment would be over with soon and she could leave. Her anxiety didn't go unnoticed by some of the faculty, some of the other teenagers, and Marcus who was standing next to the scared girl, looking neutral and his hands in his pockets. ***"Yep first day peer pressure is the same anywhere you go. Hope something happens to get rid of this awkward silence,'*** the pointy haired mutant thought as he surveyed the room.

Suddenly, the well known blue elf of the X-men, Nightcrawler, appeared in front of the two new additions to the team, only to stare at the still frowning girl. Laura for her part only stood there since she remembered him from the files she read at the SHIELD lab and from the observations from their last encounter. After a minute or two, Kurt smiled and reached out his three fingered hand and said, "Kurt Wagner. It's nice to meet you."

The secretive clone only looked at his at first but after a little prodding from her so called friend she took the friendly hand and slowly shook it. A little more prodding and she started talking in a hesitant voice, "Laura. Laura Howlett. I'm sorry about last time." "Ah its cool. Just don't do it again and its square. I just hope you're a lot nicer than your father," the teleporter replied a smile still remaining on his blue furry face.

"What was that elf?," the man in question asked with hints of danger in his voice eliciting a small yelp from the hairy teen a few laughs from the others. Marcus decided to join the conversation by saying, "Sorry to disappoint pal but this girl right here," he stopped as Laura elbowed him really hard in th gut forcing him to crouch a bit clutching his stomach but he finished, "She's a lot meaner."

That small childish show managed to change the students opinion of the former codenamed X23. Sure they still thought she was still a little dangerous if made angry(this was obvious from any daughter of the Wolverine) but at least they felt she wasn't going to attack them again. _Maybe_. Following Kurt's example three other students: Bobby Drake, Jubilee(Don't know what he real name is), and Jamie came up to the girl who was the same age as them in order to talk.

* * *

Some time later...

With the little gathering over, everyone headed off to either different part's of the large house or outside to play. Kurt's group asked Laura to join them for some Saturday cartoons that she reluctantly said yes to a little curious about their idea of fun. Marcus stayed in the main hall while his rough partner went off smiling as she took an interest in the others. "Hmph decided to take a punch to get the kid in didn't ya?" called Wolverine who also decided to stay a little bit longer as he walked over to the fifteen year old.

Still smiling while rubbing his injured stomach the raven haired shadow bender replied, "Yea it just seemed necessary. She's not so bad despite her many, _many_ anger flaws." Then he let out a small laugh that even Logan joined in knowing first hand the anger problems his "daughter" had. Soon the laughter died down and the room was silent with a serious atmosphere.

"So are you really going to be staying for awhile?" the animal like mutant asked not that he wanted the kid to go but he could tell that the boy had other plans. The ever calm smile faded from Marcus's face as he took on a neutral image of seriousness. "To tell the truth, maybe for a little while but I can't stay for long. I still have a job to do and I have to see it through." Logan folded his arms and nodded showing that he supported Marcus's decision to fight for his family and continue looking for them.

However he decided to see if there was a way to prolong the determined mutant's stay. "At least stay a week or two. Like Laura said we can help ya find those bastards but ya gotta be patient. And judging from your story earlier those old friends of yers won't let anything bad to your mom and brother. Plus they also seem to be backing off for the time being as well, so enjoy yourself while you can."

The young but rational teal eyed teenager placed both hands behind his head and took on a look that said he was in deep thought. "You also want me to be here for her right?" The question didn't seem to phase Logan and if it did he didn't show it as he retorted, "You care about her don't you?"

For a few seconds Marcus didn't look say anything until he turned to the older mutant and responded, "Yeah what are friends for?" "Hey you," called a voice from that came from the rec room and was revealed to Laura as she stood out of the doorway, "Come here, I need you to tell me about these shows. They seem to revolve around stupidity so you seem like the only one who would understand."

Marcus strode over to the insulting girl with a nervous smile on his face and his right hand rubbing his hand. "Hey Laura I'm glad your asking for my help but could ya tone down n the insults a bit?" Now the girl with long brown hair folded her tan yet slender arms and said, "Only if you stop acting like a goofball. Now come on."

Before Marcus could enter the tv room he was stopped when the girl slightly younger than him asked, "What were you two talking about?" as she saw Logan leave in the opposite direction. Marcus thought over or a second before a mischievous grin formed on his brown face. "Just about how cute you look when your angry," he stated rather calmly that was heard by the other room occupants who froze in place.

All throughout the mansion a loud whack was heard that only a few could only guess where it came from. Logan only smirked at it as he went back to work on his bike. ***"The professor was right. It is good that she found a punching bag to have fun with."***

Ch.6 End

There ya have it. How who Marcus is and how he came to be with Laura. Also a very emotional chapter for the girl but hey at least she has someone who can take her anger out on. Next time some good times for the mutant duo but things go bad as their enemies return to finish their job. Please read and review for criticism.

AJ Katon out.


	7. Chapter 7

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Chapter 7: The push

0ne month after Laura and Marcus arrived at the institute...

On a remote island fortress...

"I've had enough of this!!" yelled Madame Viper as she slammed her fist on her desk. The leader of Hydra was growing impatient of all time she was wasting waiting around for her new business partner, Damon Cross, had asked her to do. She still didn't understand why she took his advice to not recapture X23 but instead wait a little while and relax. Well it had been a month since the suggestion and she was completely done with relaxing.

"This has gone on for too long, I believe its time we had a talk with Cross." she stated as she went out her door with Omega Red and Gauntlet behind her. The two hunters of Hydra shared their leaders sentiments on the fact that they've had too much of this so called vacation. Their entire operation had become slightly lazy during their time off and if nothing was done efficiency would drop exponentially.

After going through the only jungle area allowed in their base, while the rest encompassed the entire area outside the base, the three Hydra people found themselves in front of the smaller but still rather large 3 story black warehouse where the mysterious Damon Cross and company lived.

Not wasting time waiting, Gauntlet punched through the metal door four times before it fell from his strong punches. He bowed and allowed his employer to go first while he and the red Russian followed close behind. Inside the dark place Viper and her men walked through a series of doors until they reached the center of the black building and saw the familiar form of Damon's white flowing hair as his back was turned to them.

"Now Cross its time we-" the raven haired leader of the weapon's organization began until all the lights in the large room switched on all at once, causing her to shield her eyes with her black gloved hand. When the small moment of blindness was over, she slowly opened her eyes to see that the inside was completely different from what she expected.

The entire interior was composed a light blue steel design with a big opening on the ceiling that led to the second floor and certain furnishings was made to look like a small command center. There were some high tech computers, some surveillance equipment, and a restraining table. Taking in the sights more carefully Madame Viper realized that they were not alone.

On the second floor sat four of the mysterious benefactors minions: the twins, the green haired girl and the brown haired teleporter. On the main floor were the two enforcers of Damon: Gen and Tamara.(She learned their names through talks with Damon) Finally the leader of the mutants himself Damon Cross stood a couple a feet in front of the Hydra leader, arms folded on each other still not acknowledging her.

After two minutes of silence, he let his black sleeved arms fall to his sides and turn around to face the woman he would describe as lovely to say, "Ah Madame Viper, I've been expecting you." "Oh have you Mr. Cross," the deadly beauty sarcastically remarked as she folded her arms in anger, "So do you know the issue I am having right now?"

The tanned man only chuckled slightly before answering, "You are upset about the fact that we haven't made a move on capturing your weapon X23 for over a month. But I assure you that we will get her but we have our own way of doing so." "And in order to make sure it all goes according to plan we need one more vital piece."

Slightly intrigued by his words but still a bit testy the dangerous woman asked, "And what might that be?" "Marcus." The las word that came from the enigma of a businessman's mouth that left Viper and her cronies puzzled. Omega Red was the only one to ask,"How exactly is the boy supposed to help you? I hear he is on the little weapon's side and won't be to keen on handing her over," A thought came to Viper's mind that she spoke aloud, "Is he a spy working for you?"

"A good guess Madame and may I add a genius idea, but no. Marcus is not working for me," Damon replied before letting an evil smile form on his face, "At least to his knowledge he isn't." It was obvious to say that everyone else was left clueless on the dark plans of Damon Cross, even his own people. With a slight shifting motion he turned away from his business partner and said, "Well on to the next phase. Phoebe, John, Tamara, and Gen please be ready to move out. Lida and Teresa I need you two to do something for me."

Confusion once again fell upon the other occupants of the temporary small base as their leader slowly made his way to the center of the room. "What are you planning Cross? Tell me?" demanded the agitated woman because she still didn't trust the man who seemed to keep her in the dark. He only smiled to her and replied, "I also believe we've had enough time to waste Commander. Please prep my team and tell them where our little preys are. Today is the day we both reclaim what we lost."

At he end of that sentence the silver maned man said no more and Viper could tell that a great plan was about to unfold so she left with Omega Red and Gauntlet in order to get ready. Damon's crew left also to stand outside the warehouse to await orders while the two children he called for came by his side and they left the command center through a secret elevator.

The elevator was large enough for five people so space wasn't an issue as they arrived two floors below ground. This level was a secret place from Madame Viper since Damon placed it under "unnecessary information". When they stopped walking the three organization workers came to a steel door with a completely new room with many security locked doors. After he put in the four numbers needed for one door specifically, Damon stepped into the room he had made.

The room was very nice with brown floors and was furnished with a couch and a table. On that same couch he was greeted by the sight of raging black eyes and a definite look of anger. The charcoal eyes came from a tan long blond haired woman of 5'9 in her late twenties who, despite being a prisoner, was well dressed in a light yellow shirt short sleeved shirt and a long navy blue skirt and regular white shoes. Clutched very close to her was a 4'7 light boy who looked to be about eleven years old and asleep. His clothing was a light blue t shirt that had a black upper design that reached his short sleeves, light brown shorts, and black sneakers that were also in fine shape.

The mother's eyes stared dangerously into Damon's own teal eyes who met her with a look of indifference. After giving her a slight bow he sincerely said, "Ah Diane so nice to see you again. I trust your living arrangements are being well taken care of." She never said a word to him for five minutes and only turned away from him to focus on the small boy resting on her lap. The strange man only heaved a dramatic sigh as he procured, "Still with the silent treatment. Even after I've gave you such a nice room."

Once again only silence filled the room. "Oh well anyway the reason I've come today is to tell you I have a big surprise for you." This time the silent female turned to him with a quizzical look on her smooth face. "Ah yes you see, I have finally found young Marcus for you," he said enjoying the horrified stare she exhibited, "And I will soon have him brought back here for a little family reunion."

At the end of his sentence Diane could only stare at the madman who broke up her family in disbelief as tears started to form in her eyes. She tried to hold them back but the idea of her eldest son being captured for whatever plan this stranger wouldn't disappear from her mind. She was brought out of it when said madman continued, "But there is one last thing I need." The woman looked back at the silver haired monster with curiosity on what he was going to say.

"You see he has placed himself in an excellent position for me and I need a little something to up the ante." He suddenly motioned for the two little girls behind him to step forward so he could get what he wanted. Diane was about to say something when he cut her off, "Don't worry it won't hurt at all. And besides," he said pointing towards the still sleeping child, "We wouldn't want to disturb young Jacob because of this would we?"

Now she was plagued with not only fear for both of her kids but guilt over what was going to happen next and how it would affect Marcus. Lida slowly stepped toward the older woman, most likely not understanding the situation and started to glow an ominous pink glow in her eyes and on her hands.

The frightened mother could only keep silent and close her eyes as she waited for the ten year old to be finished. Her last thought before the procedure began was, ***"Marcus... wherever you are... please...be safe."***

* * *

The day later...

Saturday about an hour ago...

Things had been going well with Laura's new home accommodations to say the least. On the upside she had been given a room all to herself for the first week until she finally asked to be roomed with someone. Jubilee volunteered since she and the former X23 had gradually started becoming friends. She also had taken to gardening very quickly thanks to Storm and she now received some more teasing from Marcus and his new pals Kurt and Bobby, all three of which had sustained a few bruises from the girl with possibly no sense of humor.

So now the clone had some new friends and a nice new room to add to the good parts of her life as she laid down on her bed facing the ceiling. However they still couldn't quiet the feelings deep within her soul. She still felt that Hydra would come any day now and would bring harm to all the nice people that had welcomed her. Feeling a little depressed, she decided to get up and look at the peaceful scenery outside to try to cheer up.

Sitting on the windowsill, she turned her emerald eyes to the scenes of the green foliage of the nearby trees and even the large open area where most of the students were at. Looking towards the one tree in particular she spotted the resting form of her shadow bender friend on one of the large branches.

She smirked a bit when she remembered all the little teasing he had given her for the past two weeks. One time she finally demanded why he kept doing and he replied with a wide grin, "Its because of ho cute your reactions are," and he said that in front of other people, one was Logan. That resulted in Marcus being in the medical room for a few days.

Suddenly, she noticed her roommate Jubilee call out to Marcus and start talking to him with Bobby. The three chatted for a few minutes before the mutant able to conjure fireworks jolted like she had an idea and after more talking the other two nodded and all of them made their way back inside. This confused Laura and while she tried to figure out what they were up to there came a knock at the door.

"Come in," she said and as she expected the few people she talked with came inside with Jubilee in front. "Hey Laura," she began with a hint of mischief in her voice that made the her friend uneasy, "you know what's fun?" The chestnut haired girl quirked an eyebrow, an easy indication that she didn't know the answer. Suddenly the raven haired chipper girl yelled as loud as she could without getting in trouble for it, "SHOPPING!!"

Laura kept her face of confusion until Bobby explained, "What Jubilee means is that we all along with Kurt and Kitty have decided to go the mall to buy some stuff and we were wondering if you wanted to come too." With a much better grasp of things, the tan girl frowned a bit as she place her hand on her chin, trying ti figure out what a mall was. Finally she decided to ask, "What's a mall?"

That filled the room with an uncomfortable silence as Iceman and Jubilee stared at their fellow X-man in disbelief. After a few minutes the frown was still on the former weapon's face as she asked, "What?" Marcus decided to break the quiet by talking with a serious face, "Guys its okay. Its obvious about what's going on here."

Now he stepped past the two listeners to place a hand on Laura's shoulder, much to her surprise and say, "Laura how could we be so insensitive when your condition is so obvious." The others didn't know what was going on but listened intently to what his next words were. He certainly knew how to be dramatic they gave him that. After a brief pause a smirk formed on his face as he questioned, "You've never been to a mall before your life have you?"

Bobby rolled his eyes at the guy's over dramatization and the idea that a girl had never been shopping before. There's just no way. His belief was blown away as Laura nodded and he saw Jubilee's mouth gape open. Marcus turned back to the other room occupants to continue, "Yes my friends, our Laura has never been to the place known to all teenagers as heaven. She has never been to see all the amazing clothes they have, never talked with others for long periods of time, never" he stopped because the concept of his next words were to shocking even for himself, "never tasted mall pizza."

At that instant Jubilee shoved the over talkative boy out of her way to face her fellow girl and roommate and practically shout, "Laura is what he saying true?! You've never been to the mall?!?!" The long haired girl was hesitant to answer, unsure what the frantic Chinese girl would say and already sure it would be bad. After taking a small breath, she answered, "Yes I've never been to a mall."

The truth was told and it left with the two mutants who knew her less with surprised expressions while Marcus was neutral while he laid on Jubilee's bed since no one was paying attention to him.

Finally the spiky haired boy broke the silence by saying, "Huh now that I think about it neither have I. We should remedy this." "Your damn right we'll fix this," the fireworks mutant quipped not looking at the boy, "And get off my bed." Laura decided to return to the conversation, "Is it really that serious that I-" "Of course its serious, Laura!!" the hysterical mutant girl cut her off moving her face closer to her friends face in a threatening manner.

It was a wise decision that Laura and the others stay quiet while they let the girl known as Jubilation Lee vent. "Its one thing for any guy like Marcus to not to have ever visited the mall but Laura do you know who you are?!?!" The girl in question stood looking dumbfounded before saying, "Uh a girl?"

"That's right!! You are a growing teenage girl," the orange jacket wearing teenager exclaimed wagging her finger around, "How can you have not visited the place known to all women as our second home?!" "I just never did." That answer was not enough to settle the temper of Jubilee and before she snapped again Bobby finally decided to fix the problem, "Whoa, whoa okay Jubilee you can calm down before your yelling gets us in trouble. Lets just take Laura to the mall downtown and show her what she's been missing."

His plan was the perfect one for their problem but Jubilee found a problem in it. "Who's going to give us a ride?" Her question broke the growing enthusiasm they all had until Marcus voiced a crazy idea, "Let's get Laura's old man to take us." Now Bobby, Jubilee, and even Laura stared at the calm fifteen year old mutant in disbelief. They knew he was known for being a little brave when it came from Danger room sessions or messing with the younger girl, but to actually call the man known as the Wolverine old and to actually ask him something like this was just plain insanity!

"Marcus look we know that you like to be daring and everything but don't you think that asking Mr. Logan to drive us somewhere sounds a little, oh I don't know, dangerous," Iceman said trying to convince the strange mutant to not go for his idea. He felt a little relieved when the boy in the black shirt placed his hand on his chin apparently in deep thought.

***"Hm Bobby might be on to something here. If I ask there may be some trouble afterwards. Or he'll just put me in another Danger Room scenario."*** ***"Maybe there's another way,"*** he thought as his gaze wandered around the room searching for some kind of spontaneous inspiration.

Suddenly the others noticed his light blue eyes widen and his evil smile formed on his light brown face. That was an indication that another crazy idea had come to him and he was about to enact it. This plan had to be stopped before something bad happened. "Marcus," Iceman started but couldn't finish as the boy he called was already out the door and running to the stairs. "Oh crap" both the ice conjuring and fireworks conjuring mutants exclaimed before they took off after their crazy companion. Laura went with them to see what Marcus had up his sleeve.

* * *

In the front hall...

Logan was coming back to the institute after going into the city to get a beer since there was no way a school would have any. It sucked in his opinion but he felt that the ride on the way was nice since it helped clear his mind and focus on some good things happening now. Like how Laura was slowly adjusting to her life here and that he could watch over her and make sure she's safe. It made him feel very good knowing he was going to be able to help her as a sort of biological father should. He also hoped that she would lose her emotional barriers and open up to him. Like she does with...

"Hey Mr. Logan! Wait up!" The self healing mutant felt a twinge of annoyance as he recognized the voice of who was calling him. It wasn't that he hated the kid, hell he even respected him a bit since he was the only one able to freely communicate with Laura. He also wasn't that bad in all the Danger Room trainings Logan had put him through knowing that it would make some of the other kids his age wet their pants.

The fifteen year old just seemed to be too goofy for his tastes. He kinda reminded him of Kurt the way he smiled a lot and pranks he pulled on X that later awarded him a butt kicking from the girl and a laugh from the man himself. Wolverine pulled himself out of his daydream as Marcus came jumping off the top stairs to the first floor in front of the mutant soldier.

The blue haired man sighed at the shadow bender's annoying energy knowing that what was coming next was something bad. "Alright Marcus, whaddya want?" "Oh its not me who needs something its," the fifteen year old began until he turned around and saw that his three compadres were right behind him, with Laura the only one not out of breath.

Now the sinister smile he was known for formed on his face as he turned his sights the long brown haired girl who raised a suspicious brow. "Ah Laura good timing," he started as he moved behind the girl to push her a little closer to her "parent", "Well here's your Dad. Go ahead and ask him what you wanted to ask him."

Everyone besides the scheming boy turned to him with confused expressions until Jubilee understood where he was going with this. She was about to say something when a large brown hand appeared and silenced her. The owner of the hand looked at Laura to say, "Yeah remember when you said you never visited a mall and wanted to see what they were all about?"

The short clone continued to stare at him with a blank expression until she figured out what he was trying to pull. She thought it over a bit considering that if Logan did go along with it she would finally satisfy her curiosity for the place everyone was talking about. So she nodded and turned to face Logan and ask,"Can you take me and a few others to the mall today?"

To say that the man who lived through WW2 was amazed to those words pass from the last person he expected to hear them from was an understatement. He was completely taken back by the question that he stood there frozen for a few minutes before he finally started talking again. "You… want to… go.. to the…MALL," he slowly asked trying to make sure that the beer wasn't going to his head, which it couldn't thanks to his ability.

He was answered with, "Yes, I want to go to see one since I've never been. Those guys said it was a fun place so I want to check it out." With the question answered the look on Logan's face went from surprised to slightly angry when he heard that this idea was suggested by Marcus. He shifted his blue eyes(I'm only assuming they are that color if not please tell me later) to the young shadow bender to see he had his eyes closed and hands behind his head feigning ignorance.

*"That kid is definitely up to something if he's the one pulling the strings here,"* he thought as he narrowed his vision on the calm teenager, *"I just wish I knew what."* "So," the muscular man was brought out his thoughts by the voice of his clone/daughter, "Will you do it?" Logan stood there with his hand on his chin thinking on the matter while separate thoughts were running through the minds of the three teenagers behind the short tan girl in the spotlight.

*"There's no way he'll go for it. There's just no way,"* thought Bobby as he slowly fidgeted at whatever decision Wolverine was making. *"Marcus if this goes bad I swear I will make you suffer,"* Jubilee thought darkly frowning at the still confident boy next to her. Marcus's thoughts however were on what kind of stuff they had at the mall. Maybe a few videogames he might take an interest in. Then when his eyes opened to see Laura's old man as he called him in deep concentration he smirked and thought, *"All going according to plan."*

"Alright I'll take you." That was the answer that resulted in many things. Laura only nodded a bit not showing any emotion, Iceman and Jubilee only let their jaws fall in disbelief, and Marcus displayed a smile for victory. "I'll meet you in the garage in an hour," The self healing mutant explained as he pointed a finger at the other teenagers causing them to jump a bit, "Bring your little gang along if you want but make sure they behave themselves. Alright?" "Sure." And with that Logan left before giving Marcus the eye eliciting a wave from the kid and a sigh from the soldier as he left.

Sarah turned around to see the strange expressions on the other mutants about her age and turned to Marcus to ask, "What's wrong with them?" The shadow bender smirked as he took a small glance at them and replied, "They have learned to never question a master."

* * *

Now...

On the road towards Downtown, New York...

The four X-teens were now in the X-van with Logan at the wheel. Laura had been able to get the front seat by beating Marcus to the punch(more like she was going to seriously hurt him if he didn't comply), while Marcus, Jubilee, and Bobby were in the back sets with Marcus holding a magazine

"So you say that this PSP can download music, video games, pictures, and surf the internet," asked Marcus as he read the Game magazine and started questioning Iceman about the certain Sony product that caught his eye. "Yeah I heard that its one of the best gaming systems out right now. I totally recommend buying it if you have the cash," replied Bobby to the slightly older guy, smirking at the knowledge he had.

"Then it shall be mine," the shadow bender said with hints of evil in his voice as well as a evil grin. The two car occupants in the back with him only smiled nervously at him while the two in the front seats paid no attention to them at all.

* * *

Half an hour later...

In a huge mall Downtown...

The mall they went to was about three stories big and was complete with three floors. Each floor had a different shopping place and it came with bathrooms and a few small water fountains as well. The mutants parked in the garage compound of the large structure and after Logan memorized where he parked they made their way inside through the first floor.

The five mutants had split up, much to Logan's annoyance, after the adult of the group had gone over where they were expected to meet up in about thirty minutes from now. Logan decided to waste his time sitting in the food court while he waited for the runts to come back. Meanwhile, Bobby and Marcus were going through various games at the mall's GameStore while Jubilee had convinced Laura to follow her to name brand clothing store.

While looking for some things in her size the fireworks mutant noticed that the former Hydra girl seemed to like the color green and brown alot. With this in mind she helped Laura pick out two green shirts and some brown pants before going to purchase them. With their small clothing done and a couple of bags in their hands, they decided to meet up with Wolverine in food court and get something to eat. The food of choice was naturally pizza.

Logan paid for three personal pizzas and when he was done with his he told them he was heading to the bathroom. After he was gone the two girls were left by themselves as they continued to eat until Jubilee decided to become brave. She turned to her fellow mutant who was still eating and asked, "Hey Laura do you mind if I ask you something?" The clone looked at the Chinese girl quizzically for a second while she gulped down her food and nodded for her to continue while she drank her Sprite.

She knew something bad was going to happen to her when this was over but she knew that the question would eat at her for as long as she could handle. Taking a deep breath she calmed her self and calmly asked, "Is Marcus your boyfriend?" Silence filled the room as Jubilee awaited her fate at the hands of Wolverine's daughter.

The girl in question was processing everything that was said to her and trying to understand why Jubilee would ask her something like that. She had found out what a boyfriend was when she overheard Jean and Kitty talking about the subject a few weeks ago. She didn't hate Marcus per say but there was no way in hell would he be anything more to her than a punching bag for her frustration or a simple person to talk to. She was comfortable with that and felt no need to take it further than that. Finally the Chinese girl noted a frown on the tan girl's face and feared the worst when she heard, "No. That idiot is not my boyfriend."

A held breath of relief flowed from Jubilee as she placed a hand on her beating heart slumped on the circular table. She flinched when she was asked, "Why would you ask me that?" and knew that the real battle was just beginning. The mutant girl hesitantly answered, "Well ever since you came to the Institute you two have seemed like inseparable. You always talk to him more than anyone else and he does seem rather fond of you. To tell you the truth almost everyone else back at school seem to think you two are a couple."

When she heard that last bit the girl with green eyes turned back to Jubilee with surprise and confusion on her face. She just couldn't understand why everyone thought that she was together with Marcus of all people! Sure at times they hung with each other a lot but that's just because they were friends! Nothing more!

Jubilee felt a little uneasy by the way Laura was clutching the table and wished that something would come to save her if worse came to worse. As if like magic, Marcus appeared with Bobby, sporting a new PSP game box in his armpit. His wide smile was evident as he spotted the two girls at their table and gestured to Bobby to follow him. Before they reached it Iceman asked, "Hey is it me or does Laura seem to be pissed at you?" Marcus raised a brow and look towards the brown haired girl and she did look very pissed at him. ***"Hm wonder what that's about?"***

* * *

Moving to another part of the mall...

A man with long white hair and dressed in a black suit sat on a chair with a cup of tea in his hand, while observing what appeared to be four teenagers dining on pizza. His teal eyes were especially locked onto the one teenager with black hair showing off a PSP. ***"Still such a child eh young Marcus,"* **he chuckled mentally as he took a long drink from his cup.

Then he stood up to pull on his gloves a bit before turning to regard the four bystanders beside him. He looked at the man in the hood and the green haired female beside him to say," On to business. Omega Red,please attend to Mr. Wolverine would you please?" "With pleasure," responded the cyberized mutant as he cracked his knuckles in preparation. Next was quiet Phoebe, "Phoebe dear you are with me. When the time is right I want you to help persuade Marcus. Understood?" The green banged mutant simply nodded and took off along with the Russian mutant to accomplish their task.

Next was the other couple in the form a pink haired woman and a bald man, " "Gen, Tamara, be ready when you see the signal." Two nods were made as the strong couple took of to assume their positions as well. Now that left the calculating man alone as he looked back at the boy he was going to capture as he smiled to his friends.

***"Now lets see if I can give a push into the right direction. Marcus."***

* * *

Going back to the small group...

"Hm?" That's what suddenly came out of the mouth as he stopped his eating which caused his three friends to turn their heads to him in confusion. He himself didn't know why he said that but felt a strange alarm go off in the back of his head. It was as if something was trying to warn him but he didn't know why.

"Hey Marcus," the spikey haired boy was called back to reality by Jubilee, 'Are you okay? You looked like you saw death." "Nah its not like that," he lied as he rubbed the back of his head, "I just a little anxious to try out my new badboy." His lie worked as the others rolled their eyes hoping he wouldn't talk about the new gaming system again.

The teal eyed mutant in question had serious thoughts going through his head despite his facial demeanor. That feeling he had wasn't normal and that meant something was wrong. ***"Maybe staying here isn't such a good idea. Probably be a good idea to pack up now and go home,"*** he thought as he stood from his chair to voice the idea to the others but halted. His friends noticed his hesitation and only Laura asked, "What's wrong?"

"Laura have you seen your old man around," the fifteen year old asked looking in a few directions before returning his attention back to the slightly younger kids, "Shouldn't he have been back by now?" His question rang a bell to Bobby and Jubilee since they hadn't seen their mutant instructor for a while now. Laura herself was growing suspicious of where the man she saw as her father could be doing at the moment.

She stood up from her seat and said, "I;m going to go look for him," and started to walk away. Jubilee got up as well to follow the clone with Bobby in tow. Before Marcus could follow Jubilee called to him, "Watch our stuff Marcus, Be back in a sec." To his dismay he decided to do as he was told since he didn't want the Chinese girl to sick a certain adamantium clawed friend on him for disobeying a simple request.

He waited there for a few minutes until he felt that cold feeling again. It flowed down his spine giving him a slight cause to shiver a bit. ***"What the hell s up with me,"*** he thought as he tried to quiet the strange stirring in his soul, ***"Why do I feel this way and why is it so familiar? Its like that time when"***

His thoughts were disrupted when he heard someone call, "Ah Marcus my lad. How have you been?" He instantly recognized those words and when he quickly turned behind him was the man he had been fighting against to get his family back. His calm teal eyes reclaimed their dark nature and balled his fist in anger as two words came out of his mouth, "Damon Cross."

The devil of a man only chuckled slightly before saying, "It's good you haven't forgotten me Marcus. It's really nice to see you again." "Wish I could say the same thing Cross," responded the young shadow bender with no hints of his normally joyful demeanor showing. He stared darkly at Cross but couldn't act on his instincts because he may cause a lot of damage to some innocent bystanders in the process. So he seriously had to will himself to stay calm until he could kill the bastard in front of him later.

"That hurts a bit Marcus especially since I came to ask you for something." "Like what," the younger boy asked before getting off his seat, "Oh wait let me guess: you want me to finally join up with you just like you made the others in order to double cross Hydra right?" Once again Damon chuckled at the Marcus's deduction, "Well thought out and correct I might add. You'll make an excellent addition to the team. Now let's get-"

He was interrupted when the now thoroughly pissed Marcus brushed past him, "Cross you got only a few minutes to get away from me before I hurt you right here and right now." Before the shadow bender could leave, Cross stopped him when he said something incoherent at first. He didn't look at the silver man as he asked, "What was that?" "I said," Damon spoke with an overconfident tone, "You sound as if I came here alone." Those words cause the shadow bender to jerk a little and turn towards the mysterious man with a look of shock. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

* * *

A few moments before the confrontation…

On the other side of the mall…

Logan was done with using the bathroom and was slowly making his way back to the others. He took in some of he stores to see if there was anything he may want to come back for. By the looks of it there wasn't anything there he liked and he was kind of annoyed by how many chattering girls there were . *"Grr why can't they just shut up and get on with it,"* he thought as he turned a corner hoping he would make it back to the food court.

He wound up in the garage section of the mall, which made him a little lost. This elicited a small growl of annoyance form the feral mutant but he decided to go along with it to see if he can find the van. After walking for a few minutes, he stopped when his heightened senses picked up danger. Naturally he unsheathed his six unbreakable metal claws and sniffed around to find whoever was there. That's when he ducked to his right when he heard the whooshing sound of something coming his way.

The metallic tentacles had missed Wolverine and by doing so they smashed into a nearby small car. The windows were broken to say the least along with huge dents on his green side. When Logan got up from his position he saw the claws retract back to their original place in the hands of a blond haired red wearing man Logan new.

"Omega Red," he stated darkly as he slowly walked toward his attacker, "Let me guess. Your after the girl aren't you?" The russian mutant cackled maniacally for a bit before responding, "She's only my assignment Wolverine. But getting rid of you would be a personal pleasure." The blue haired mutant shifted into a fighting stance and said, "Then come get some." And both war hardened mutants lunged at each other.

* * *

Around that time...

Laura was sniffing around for a trace of Wolverine but was having trouble doing so. There were a few perfume scents in the air that were throwing off her nose much to her displeasure. Bobby and Jubilee were right behind her looking around for their ride home as well but so far they turned up nothing and wondered if they man they both respected and feared had gotten lost.

"So does he carry a cellphone," asked the ice using mutant regarding both girls,"If he does we could just call him up." "Naw he doesn't seem like the type that would want to be called," responded the Chinese girl before placing her hand on Laura's shoulder making the brown haired girl face her, "Maybe we should head back to Marcus. Who knows? Maybe Mr. Logan went back their already."

The self healing girl nodded her head and began to turn back to the others when something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. She turned quickly to see the familiar forms a certain super strong orange haired girl as she showed an expensive coat to a bald muscular man who face she couldn't see because his back was turned to her. She instantly knew it was Tamara and Gen and instinctively she grabbed her two friends by their necks and forced them behind a small water fountain to hide.

"Oww. Laura what the-" "Be quiet we've got some trouble," The former codename X23 interrupted before the Chinese brunette could finish her statement. Her word trouble reached the two mutants as they righted themselves and crouched next to the girl since she was the only one looking around.

"Who do you see?" "Two mutants. Male and female. Over there next in the JcPenny," she said allowing her friends to look at who she was talking about, "They've attacked me and Marcus before and they're very strong." Bobby managed to catch the form of the two enemies in his eyes and ask, "Do you think they saw us?" "I don't think they saw us but they definitely know we're here," Laura responded going over different scenarios in her head, "We have to get out here and find Marcus and Logan."

Taking a few seconds she came up with an idea while looking at a certain mutant known for making flashing bangs. "Jubilee," she said with a small grin, "Can you make a big distraction?"

* * *

Going back to a certain shadow mutant...

Marcus stared intensely at the only person he could ever hate to a degree that he may not be able to hold. The man before him, Damon Cross, had kidnapped his mother and brother, turned his comrades against him, and now he was trying to capture the shadow's benders new friends. Needless to say today was officially turning crappy.

"Now that I have your attention," said the slightly taller man as he stretched his hand out to the tense boy, "Would your reconsider joining me in order to keep your friends safe?" The shadow bender balled his brown fist very hard as he looked into the calm eyes of the man he hated while tried to come up with a plan.

***"Dammit, if only I knew who he brought with him I could get the others out of here,"*** he thought as he turned to his left to scan the area for anyone else he might recognize. His search ended when he heard the sounds of explosions coming from his right side***"Were those fireworks? Jubilee?"*** The fireworks had triggered the alarms and after some screaming and running the entire mall was empty.

"Marcus," Someone shouted as they came around the corner even though the boy in question didn't see them. It was Laura with Bobby and Jubilee in tow. From the way the three mutants looked when they came up to him he could tell that Damon was not alone. Laura was the first to speak, "We have to leave. Those two that attacked us are here and they won't be distracted for long."

"Ah so you're the young X23," said Damon bringing the attention of the mutant teenagers upon him, 'It is an honor to meet friends of Marcus. I see you've already seen my associates." Bobby and Jubilee were suspicious of what the strange adult's connection to Marcus was. Laura was a little more angry with Damon at the mention of her old codename and extended her four adamantium claws. "Tell me who you really are," she growled pointing one closed fist at him.

"Now now, let's play nice," came the playful voice of one Tamara as she came into view on the left side of the younger mutants, "We wouldn't want anything bad to happen now. Would we, Gen?"

On cue the steel armor using mutant appeared on the opposite side of the teenagers with his arms folded. Now the four X-men were caught between two very strong mutant fighters and one man with questionable abilities. The odds weren't looking so good.

"Now then," spoke Cross as he ended the small silence, "As you can see there's no way out. So how about we end this peacefully with Marcus and his partner leaving with us and you two returning to your Professor." He paused for a second as if thinking something over, "I'm not so sure about your Wolverine though. Omega Red really wanted to kill him. He may do just that today." "Not if we stop you first," shouted Iceman as he launched an ice wave at white haired businessman hoping it would do some good. His hope was broken however.

Before the attack could make contact the ice block was destroyed by what seemed like a lightning bolt. This new development left three of the junior X-men in shock and confusion except for Marcus who knew who was behind the counter.

Instantly an adult woman descended in front of Damon Cross and when she stood everyone had a chance to get a good look at her. She had short green hair and bangs slightly hanging over her golden eyes, a black and red styled combat suit, brown combat boots, and white gloves that gave off a few static sparks. She looked like she was about sixteen or seventeen and deadly at that. Her piercing gaze settled to the spiky raven haired boy she used to associate with and sid with a emotionless tone, "Marcus."

"Phoebe. Damn." Marcus was definitely not feeling confident about their chances of winning when the bastard couple came with Damon but now that the lightning user of his old crew was here as well. They were completely screwed. "This is not good." "Why," question Laura as she noticed the small fear in the shadow mutants eyes.

"You remember when I told you about my old group?" "Yeah." "Well unfortunately she was the leader and trust me when I tell you that she knows how to fight." The way he explained it made it very clear that the small group was out of their league on this one. However one black haired mutant wasn't going to let things go to bad.

Marcus scanned the food court searching for any shadows that were present besides his own. If he was going to get the others out of this trap he needed to make sure how much of his power he could use. Damon unfortunately caught what he was doing and decided that now was the time to put his plan into action. "Now Marcus please don't tell me you still intend to fight your way out."

His answer was an outstretched hand that a few shadows were drawn into before transforming into the crimson katana that Marcus was known for. "Believe it Cross." Inspired by his show of courage the others took stances as well ready to do some damage. Cross simply smirked while shaking his head from side to side from the teenager's bravery and will to fight. "Such a fighter as always. I can see why Diane spoke so fondly of you."

That caused the shadow bender to flinch a bit from anger at the way his greatest enemy sid his mother's name. "Shut your mouth Cross." Laura glanced at her partner with a somewhat worried look. She knew that the venomous words were starting to get to him. ***"Keep your head Marcus. This isn't the time to lose it when we really need your help."***

"Ah Mr. Damon," spoke Tamara in a uncomfortable voice,"Maybe we should just leave out that part and just get Marcus. There's no reason to mention his mom." "I agree," added Gen much to everyone's surprise. Phoebe only gave the evil man one of her strongest piercing glances as if telling him to back off. Iceman and Jubilee looked at Marcus with worried expression since they didn't know about his past. "But why wouldn't I talk about the woman we've all talked to at certain times. She was so nice every time we mentioned her son," he continued despite the uneasiness it was giving his underlings. His words also elicited a dark look from Marcus as he glanced to the people who used to be his allies, giving them looks of malice.

"Matter of fact she was really willing to talk to you Phoebe seeing as you helped raise Marcus while she was...away." Now the green haired woman turned her head to face Cross and say, "Don't cross the line Damon. Enough is enough."

This small skirmish among their enemies gave the three teenagers a little time to think off a plan. Their shadow bender of a friend however,was having a little trouble keeping himself composed at the moment. They knew that if that man continued, a whole lot more trouble would come their way.

"Ah yes Marcus, Diane was always so proud of you. Whenever I told her about you she would keep going on about how glad she was that you were alright and how you would rescue her and your little brother." "At least that was your plan, right Marcus," Damon asked in a playful tone successfully carrying out his plan at the sight of the boy.

Marcus was literally shaking with anger as his hand holding his shadow blade trembled along with his body. He felt like he really couldn't hold back anymore and soon nothing would stop him from killing that man. Gen, Tamara, and Phoebe could sense the distress within the old friend and they would have sided with him on it but they couldn't betray Cross. Not when they were so close.

Damon broke the silence one more time as he took something out of his pocket. It was small and rectangular as he held it in his left hand while saying, "Yes, Diane **was** a wonderful woman." He then tossed the item to Marcus who caught it in his left hand. He looked at it suspiciously as if he knew it from somewhere before opening it. This was a grave mistake.

The small object was a picture frame and inside it was a picture Marcus never expected to see. It was of his mother, smiling brightly with her hands on two pairs of spiky heads. One was his little brother Jacob looking about six years old smiling as well with a wave. Finally there was himself, smiling a more devious smile with his two fingers up in a V-shape.

This was a picture of his family. The last picture they took before they were taken away from him. He clenched the precious his fist staring at the man with eyes bent on crying and questions. Why did he give that to him? Was he trying to taunt him? To hurt him with old memories? What was his game?!

The others managed to sneak a glance at the photo and felt pangs of sadness from it save Laura who didn't express sadness like the others. She could however feel anger towards the person who was causing her friend pain.

***"Now for the final touch,"*** the calculating adult thought as he gestured for Marcus to look at the photo again. The boy reluctantly did so and after studying it he found something that he could have sworn wasn't there at first. There was a small stain on the bottom of the object that looked liked it had become dry a few days ago. The color was deep shade of red. Wait.. red? Why would there be-

Marcus's dark blue eyes lit up when his mind came t the only conclusion it had for the red stain. He couldn't beli-No! He wouldn't believe it! It just wasn't possible...wasn't it?

He looked up with eyes no longer of anger but with disbelief. The others caught wind of it and when they also came to the suspicion. However only the older mutants spoke up, "Damon what is this?!" shouted Gen balling up his fists. "What are you trying to pull?!" Tamara cried thinking the worst may have happened. "Cross?!" yelled Phoebe as she turned to the man with eyes of pure shock and anger, "What have you done?!"

The man who everyone set there eyes on simply closed his eyes while smirking and turned around to say, "Yes she was a wonderful woman." Silence filled the room until he completed, "Till the very end."

Then all hell broke loose...

Ch.7 End

Another update though a little late. Sorry about that but graduating school life's taking its toll. However I will strive to continue this story. Next time a big battle ensues that leaves injuries and a few key decisions to be made. So stay tuned for the next chapter.

Also if anyone has any questions please feel free to place it in a review or an email. Please remember to review. They are the life of my soul.

AJ Katon out.


	8. Chapter 8

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch.8 Matters of choice

There is a point in people's lives where they are pushed so far that they embrace the one thing buried deep inside them. It is like a beast or juggernaut of strength that is brought out by intense emotion. Most commonly seen are when someone has suffered so much that they go absolutely primal in their attempt to do away with what has angered them. This transformation though powerful carries the drawback that the person is lost in darkness and may lash out at anyone who is in their way. Sometimes innocent people could be caught in the crossfire.

This was the feeling Marcus Stanford was trying to hold back when he heard Damon Cross, the man who had taken so much from him, had shown the fifteen year old the old photo of his family. The development was not lost on everyone else who was present and just like him they didn't take it well. His old comrades turned enemies were pressed to the point where they would go against the secret pact they made and help Marcus tear their temporary boss limb from limb but they just needed to keep it up a little bit longer.

Now with the added pressure of knowing that his mother may be dead all of Marcus's restraints were broken. With midnight blue eyes of hatred the shadow bender leapt from his spot towards the one person he hated most with the intent to kill. Unfortunately his attempt was blocked by Phoebe as she conjured a lightning shield that held the murderous boy back. She hoped it would also send him back unconscious but she realized that he was beyond pain in this state.

'Marcus! Snap out of it!" she yelled hoping to break through his feelings of malice. "Get out of my way!!," he yelled back before balling his fist with shadow energy. He swung the enhanced punch at the lightning shield knocking the green haired woman away and leaving Damon open.

Strangely the manipulator of a man wasn't at all afraid of the dangerous new Marcus before him. He actually smirked as if he was expecting it. His calm attitude only irked the the Stanford boy more as he continued his lunge for the man's black heart.

He was once again foiled when a blast of lightning hit him in the side, pushing him away from his prey and knocking him into a few tables. The one who shot the blast, Phoebe slowly stood from her where she was thrown, clearly injured. The elemental mutant turned to the only two mutants she could trust and commanded, "Gen! Tamara! Get those kids to safety! I hold off Marcus!"

The X-men teenagers were definitely surprised to say the least. One second they saw their normally calm friend turn into a demon bent on revenge, the next one of their enemies was trying to help them escape a bloody struggle. Naturally both Iceman and Jubilee were ready to object to the sudden command but someone spoke that kept them quiet. "Will you be able to stop him," questioned Laura as she regarded the leader of Damon's troop of mutant's with a serious are you sure look. The older woman returned the look of seriousness and nodded as she stood up from her position.

Laura returned the nod and told the others, "We have to get out of here and find Logan." "What," both mutants questioned her before Bobby continued, "Are you out of your mind? We have to help Marcus." The tan girl grabbed him by the front of his shirt and stared at him deeply to get her point across. "If you've been paying attention, you'd knew we don't stand a chance against any of these mutants. Plus we can't do anything for Marcus right now seeing how he's unreachable at the moment."

Her words held truth to them as Bobby was averting his gaze taking the truth. Jubilee also rubbed the back of her head still stomaching everything until they were greeted with an unfriendly sight. Marcus had finally got up from his crashed table position and he didn't look normal. He casted his evil glare on Phoebe who didn't seem to be fazed by it as she got into a fighting stance. "There's no more time. Run for it! All of you!"

Tamara, Gen, and even Laura nodded and to the surprise of Iceman and Jubilee the tall muscular man had grabbed them both and hoisted them over his shoulders. "Let's go," Tamara yelled as she led them away from the inevitable battle zone. With no one else to interrupt, Damon decided to let the little fight continue but with himself out of the way as well. He pressed a button on his wristwatch and a dark purple portal appeared behind him.

"Well I think I'll watch the show from a more safer angle." he stated, eliciting growls from both fighters, and before he left he finished, "Play nice now." With that he disappeared leaving the large area all to Marcus and Phoebe. The golden eyed woman still in her stance met the dark blue eyes of the boy she helped hurt as he stretched his arms to his sides. The shadows of the food court instantly came rushing at him and started engulfing him much to Phoebe's amazement and confusion.

After a few seconds the shadows slowly receded from him until they stopped at the base of his neck and reshaped into a manner of clothing on his entire body. The new threads he had were like a martial arts combat uniform with its dark red long sleeve overcoat and pants with its black undershirt. The amazement at his knew tactic didn't leave leave Phoebe's face until she recomposed herself and began channeling her ability to her fists and feet.

As the light blue electricity cackled in her choice spots, she looked Marcus sadly in the eye once again before thinking, ***"I'm sorry Marcus. I am so sorry for your mother."*** Abruptly Marcus charged at her again fully intent on punching her as she also charged in with her own attack. ***"Please forgive me."*** Then their true fight began.

Marcus shadow fist met with Phoebe's lightning fist in a mesh of crimson and teal light. The force of the two powers threw both mutants away from each other but Phoebe managed to recover before she hit the ground and charge for her opponent while he was still in the the shadow mutant felt an electrified pain in his gut as the green banged girl struck him with a punch full of lightning. She continued her assault with an overhead drop kick to the same spot followed with a spin kick to his left side, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him to the tables that weren't broken.

The strong fighter of a woman stood in place after landing on the ground from her aerial beat down while her mutant ability still resonated on her hands. "Get up Marcus," she commanded of the boy laying on the ground with a harsh authoritative tone, "I know you can do a lot better than that. Don't you dare disappoint me."

As if on cue, the boy stood up again to face her but to her displeasure he still had not snapped out of his pissed stupor. ***"I suppose I'll have to beat his anger out of him,"*** she thought as she shifted to her battle stance again as Marcus did the same. Both fighters stood ready to attack each other if one ever decided to make a move. Their stare off continued for a few seconds before Marcus took the initiative and jumped into the air. Phoebe didn't know what he was up to but she followed suit and went after him, drawing her fist back for another supped up punch.

However, the unreachable teenager pulled a surprise on her as he launched a shadow ball into her direction. With not enough time to dodge it, the lightning user used her punch on the crimson energy shot which caused it to shatter away. Unfortunately this left her completely open as Marcus appeared on top of her and shadow blasted her again, this time making direct contact.

The blast knocked the older girl to the ground in a small crater, wincing from the pain but still in the fight. She quickly rolled to her left as her opponent came rushing down on her with an attempted twin spear kick. Phoebe shifted from her side to her hand as she balanced on that hand and kicked Marcus in the back of his legs causing him to fall to his knees. Flipping onto her feet, the green haired woman stood before the shadow bender ready to end the fight with one more lightning punch.

Before she could act on it however, Phoebe instinctively jumped away from from the boy before he could deliver a shadowy back fist to her. She landed a few feet away from Marcus never taking her eyes off the younger mutant as he got back up again. They eyed each other for a short time before Phoebe formed a smirk on her graceful face.

***"Still as strong as you always are huh Marcus,"*** she thought as she reminisced on the past a bit before snapping back to reality in full serious mode. Marcus was already back in his fighting standing in front of a pizza shack as Phoebe did the same next to chicken place. "Well then let's resume shall we," she asked and even though she didn't know it a smirk formed on Marcus face for a second.

* * *

Elsewhere...

"Well well it seems that our boy has found another unique use of his powers" mused Damon as he viewed the battle from his command center. He had retreated back to the island fortress when things seemed like they were going to get hectic. This was a good idea when he saw the powers that be collide with each other and tore up the culinary area of the mall. Now he was able to sit back and watch the fun in the comfort of his own home.

"Make sure you get every piece of data. Leave nothing out," he ordered Gauntlet as the mercenary of Hydra was managing the computers used for the surveillance. Damon had asked Madame Hydra to borrow Gauntlet for an important part of the capture of X23. She was skeptical at first since he had already asked for Omega Red much to the Russian's pleasure because it would allow him to confront Wolverine but she eventually yielded to him.

Gauntlet was obviously angry to say the least over his new assignment but couldn't protest against it due to the fact if he did anything defiant he would be punished. So he had to growl and groan as he did as he was told. He still didn't trust the leader of the new group of mutants for obvious reasons and while he was helping them he would keep a good eye on them.

"I want to know," the mutant began as he looked back to Damon, "why are so fixated on the boy? I've seen his shadow powers as well but you seem to have something planned for him." The sliver haired manipulator smirked not looking at Gauntlet and replied, "He is a investment that I've been waiting to collect on. That's all you need to know for now." That response stirred anger within the Hydra mercenary as he eyed Damon with black eyes of suspicion.

"Now please bring up the video for Wolverine and Omega Red. They should be wrapping up by now. Also keep a good lookout for the others. I need to make sure they don't do anything stupid." After throwing another glare the mastermind's way, Gauntlet began punching keys and instantly brought up the battle between the former weapon x and the red Russian already in progress.

* * *

Going to the Parking Lot...

The fight between the carbondium tentacled Russian and the adamantium clawed X-man was reaching its end as Omega was becoming fatigued by Wolverine's endless supply of adrenaline thanks to his healing ability but the red mutant was keeping Logan on his toes with his own relentless attacks. Now Logan was crouched behind a red Toyota van watching as his enemy from the past was scanning the other side of the lot.

*"This is taking too long,"* grunted Logan as he kept his blades out as he continued to stalk Omega from a safe distance, *"If this guy's here then those other mutants are here as well. Laura and the others don't stand a chance especially if they were in the middle of those crashes I heard earlier."* The weapon x got up slowly as he looked around for some other place to take cover. After a few seconds he spotted another large vehicle and immediately dove for it. Omega picked up on his running and sent a metallic tentacle at the previous car his prey was hiding behind.

Seeing that Logan wasn't there the revenge driven mutant roared a sadistic roar before yelling, "You will not escape me Wolverine!! I will have my revenge!" *"Not likely bub,"* Wolverine thought as he crouched on one knee to close his eyes and concentrate, *"Gotta focus. Gotta get back up."*

*"Logan I can hear you,"* said the mental voice of Charles Xavier, *"I'm aware of the situation thanks to the news on channel 5. I've already sent a few of the others to get you but they'll need a little time to get to your location."* *"How much time,"* the soldier mutant asked wondering what his stalker was up to. *"Twenty minutes or so? Can you hold out for that long.?"*

Suddenly Logan's danger senses flared and he leapt from his position as whip like weapons of Omega Red came piercing into blue minivan nearly missing the blue haired man's head. However the Russian wasn't done yet as lifted the car into the air and threw it at the surprised Wolverine. Luckily the X-man sliced through the car keeping himself from being smothered as it split in two. With the huge projectile out of his way Logan turned his fierce gaze onto the vengeful mutant to growl, "I don't have time for this. This ends now. " Then he rushed for Omega to deliver on his statement.

The Russian accepted the challenge and released two more tentacles to add to his original two to make sure his most despised nemesis was defeated. He whipped the first one to Wolverine's position trying to snag his leg but was met with a painful counter as an adamantium claw sliced through his carbondium whip weapon. He wailed from the pain but kept up his onslaught of attacks in a somewhat desperate fashion. However Logan was still going with his own attack running on the berserker strength he and Laura were known for. Soon he sliced through all of Omega Red's tentacles and to the red Russian's dismay close the distance between them and make one more double slash on the metallic mutant's torso.

The Hydra mercenary howled in pain as he fell back onto the concrete losing consciousness. Logan regarded the defeated mutant with anger as he grabbed him by the neck to hold him up and release one claw to his neck. "Now then," the fierce X-man began with a malicious tone, "Start talking. Where's Damon Cross?" "Hehehe," Omega retorted not feeling afraid, "We'll meet again Wolverine." Suddenly Logan felt something coming and let go of the Russian just as he was swallowed up in a black and purple portal before saying, "And next time the girl will be ours."

With those last words Omega Red was gone and Logan was the victor of their battle. The veteran soldier retracted his claws and made his way out the garage lot to find the others when he heard a loud crash coming from his left. "What the hell's going on here?!" he yelled to no one as he cut a corner to see something he didn't expect.

Laura, Bobby, and Jubilee were in fighting stances, standing together against some enemy with the very mutants who attacked Marcus and Laura a month ago with another mystery mutant woman. But the one thing that really caught the soldier off was that the enemy they were fighting against was Marcus. Logan noticed that the young shadow bender was acting different than he usually would and the scent coming off of him was that of extreme anger.

Still unsure what was happening Logan ran up to Laura and demanded, "Kid what the hell's going on here?!" Laura didn't turn to face him as she answered, "Some stuff happened and Marcus went a berserker rage. If we don't he'll end up taking his anger out on innocent people." "And them?" The tan girl gazed at the three former enemy mutants for a second as she said, "Apparently they care about him. They're going to help us snap him out of it." Wolverine looked at the mutants from Marcus's past with eyes of suspicion but since their strength might be needed for this fight he turned to face the still crimson clothed shadow bender like the rest and draw his claws. "Let's knock some sense into him."

* * *

Then he and Phoebe charged in.

Marcus got into his own fighting stance as the two mutants came rushing toward him until he took off as well and attempted a spin kick to Wolverine's head. At he last second Logan dodged it and tried a kick of his own but it was blocked by the fifteen year olds arm and with his leg being held Logan was wide open for a shadow palm to the chest, forcing him away from the battle field. Logan was able to recover from the strike and was going to attack again but Marcus had a different idea.

The shadow bender summoned another crimson shadow ball and sent it Logan's way but Phoebe appeared and intercepted the attack with a lightning barrier. With that over, the green haired woman sent her own lightning projectile at her old comrade striking him on the chest. Marcus fell back for a second before getting up again but he was also clutching the spot where he was struck while panting for breath. *"He's finally getting exhausted,"* Logan thought as he ran up to the weakening boy and began slashing away at him. His attacks only managed to gaze the kid but he followed up with a roundhouse kick to the gut, sending the young shadow bender crashing to the wall.

"Everyone listen up," The Wolverine yelled calling the attention of the other mutants, "He's staring to lose control over his power. If we beat em enough he'll snap out it." With that information, everyone rushed in to deal there own blows to the boy they all knew in order to help him. Gen and Tamara were the first to strike as the muscular man switched on his body armor to lift up his super strong partner and chuck her at Marcus. While in the air she extended her right fist awaiting contact but Marcus raised a shadow shield from his clothing that blocked the deadly attack. Tamara wasn't going to stop that easily as she flipped off the shield over the shadow bender's head to land on the space behind him. Instantly she kicked off from her spot to lunge a side kick to his back but Marcus managed to dodge her kick by stepping to the side and he delivered his own shadow kick to the pink eyed girl's side sending her away from him. This however caused some of his shadow armor to recede from his right arm.

When Tamara was out Gen decided to join in with Bobby following behind him. Gen took advantage of Marcus's lack of attention to land a titanium punch to the boy's face making him fly off a few feet in the air before he righted himself as he came back to Earth. Iceman took initiative and shot an ice blast at Marcus's black shoes, freezing his fellow teenager to that spot. Marcus struggled a bit to free himself as Gen reentered the fray by jumping into the air and preparing to slam into Marcus. That was definitely overkill considering he's over possibly 300 pounds of steel raining down on one teenager.

Unfortunately Marcus broke free from his icy seal by using up more of his strange clothing to make shadow spikes appear on his lower legs. Before Gen could complete his descent, his opponent called his shadow blade and jumped to meet the steel mutant in the air. The result was a powerful collision between a silver steel fist and a dark red katana, resulting in a small shock wave that launched both fighters away from each other. Marcus and Gen managed to get their feet on the walls and kick off them to strike at each other again but Marcus gained the upper hand when he beat the old man with a surprise attack. Marcus called on more energy from his dark suit to power up the shadow blade so much that when he swung it at Gen a shadow wave followed after dealing serious damage to the older mutant's chest where Laura had previously struck at a month ago.

Gen fell to the ground so hard that he went into a state of unconsciousness. Marcus also fell to the ground a little lighter than his beaten opponent but was definitely feeing himself getting weaker. His vision was starting to haze as his armor gradually started to crumble leaving only his torso down to his knees covered by it. His mind wanted to finally stop and let it go but his anger was still controlling him as he stood up again and shifted to his sword stance.

Suddenly he swung his blade over his head as Phoebe came down on him with a lightning kick. She was held in place but smirked when he fell for the distraction. On cue an array of fireworks were shot into Marcus's back that pushed him a few feet away from the lightning user as Jubilee ran to her side. Both mutant females gave each a nod as they started to charge their powers for a final blast.

Marcus gradually stood up and turned around to see the blue and multicolored glow the girls were exhibiting as they continued to build up strength. The shadow bender felt the upcoming danger and shifted into another fighting form to draw in his own power to match theirs as his costume continued to whither and whither away. After a few minutes, all three were glowing brightly as they prepared to unleash their full strength.

_One._

Jubilee felt a little nervous. Phoebe knew what she had to do and tensed for it.

_Two._

Marcus felt himself waiver for a second.

_Three._

They unleashed their powers at the same time. Jubilee's biggest fireworks blast mixed with Phoebe's Lightning burst met with Marcus's shadow cannon in a big multicolored explosion that shook up the whole mall. Wolverine and the others where left to grab onto anything bolted down to not get blown away as the force of the mutant's created a powerful wind. The two mutant girls were trying their best to keep up their attack as Marcus's beam was being consumed by them. Soon after the explosion was done and the aftershock of it sent the mall into more disarray as the mutants were engulfed in the smoke and rumblings that followed after.

Five minutes passed as everyone lied on the ground not moving considering what they just went through. Suddenly Wolverine was the first to get up and crack his neck thanks to his ability. Bobby followed after him along with Jubilee, Tamara, and Phoebe. All five of them scanned the area looking for the one person they hoped was down for the count. Unfortunately their hope was broken when a slightly bruised Marcus stood up from his spot and turned to face them. They had practically no strength left so they were at the mercy of the still consumed by rage boy as he slowly made his way towards them.

However he forgot about one more mutant that had yet to fight against him. A certain brown haired mutant girl who was known for hitting him. Laura lived up to her reputation as she descended from the second floor to land in front of Marcus and deliver a hard left hook to his stomach. The shadow bender felt all the air leave him as he felt the harsh pain of her metallic boned fist connect to him. She saw his eyes go white as he almost slumped down on her shoulder but he stopped himself in order to reach her ear.

He whispered, "Sorry," "What for," she whispered as well not sure why she was talking in a low tone. "For the whole episode back there. Couldn't help myself." Laura looked at her friend as he lifted his head up and saw that his eyes had returned to their regular calm quality. After giving a sigh she responded, "Whatever. Just go to sleep."

Marcus smiled at her and was about to take a rest but he stopped when he remembered something and said, "Hey X?" "What?" "Help Gen would you?" The clone's green eyes widened at his question before she demanded to know, "Why the hell should we help him?! He and those other two tried to kill us!" "It was an act Laura."

Those words caused the girl to regard the boy with a questionable look and looked back at the forms of Tamara and Phoebe who for some reason seemed to smile at her. That's when she realized that what he said was true. It all was an act. A damn good one at that. The self healing mutant turned back to the boy n her shoulder and asked, "What is going on?"

"I'll tell ya later but not now. We're still being watched," was his answer as he slowly drifted off but again he stopped to say, "Oh and Laura?" "Now what?" "Please help me get my PSP too. Can't...leave that..be..hind," he finished between yawns before succumbing to his exhaustion and fell to the ground to sleep.

The others gave off a sigh of relief at the fallen form of Marcus signaling that the battle was over. Logan however tensed up again as stand stood up from his position to release his claws and walk towards Tamara and Phoebe. Jubilee was quick to catch what he was doing and stood between him and the two older girls. "Sparks, get out of my way." "No," she responded with obvious fear in her voice, "These two helped us with Marcus. We owe them for that." "They're reason why this happened. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have had to fight the idiot," Wolverine countered with anger in his voice. His words had an effect of making both of the girls looked to the floor in shame knowing that he was right.

"You are correct Wolverine," said Phoebe as she stood up with bruises on her body and a few cuts on her uniform but still looking pretty high in authority, "We are partly to blame for this but you must understand that we never knew what Damon had done. If we did we wouldn't be here right know." "That still doesn't make it right." Once again the green haired woman was forced to bow her head in shame as she responded, "Yes your right." Then everything went quiet as Logan impression of the two girls changed to guilt for berating them. He could tell there was something else going on and he should have found out what before saying anything.

Eliciting a groan, he sheathed his claws as Bobby and Jubilee walked next to him. The two Hydra workers also stood up after sometime in order to inspect Gen's injuries. "So," Laura asked as she hoisted Marcus's shoulder over her own, "now what?"

* * *

A few hours later…

Xavier's Mansion…

"I see," was all the Professor could say as he interlocked his hands in an X shape turning to the man he helped a long time ago with a look heavy with concern. The X-men had been able to reach the mall after the battle was already over and the only one's to greet them were the members of their team and one of the opposing side's agents who looked to be in a bad position. After they made their escape before the police arrived and brought two casualties into the medical bay of the institute, Charles had called Wolverine into his office to know what transpired at the mall. When Logan had told them about the tragic news of Marcus's mother to battle they all had to fight after he had snapped. Shocked and concerned were the definite words to describe the professor after hearing it all.

"Such a tragedy to such a young man," he continued averting his gaze and looking out the window in deep thought, "It's unthinkable." Logan folded his arms as he leaned on the wall on the right side of the professor thinking about what to do when the kid wakes up. After a small silence the blue haired man spoke, "Well not much we can do now except get the kid healed. After that it's up to him on what to do." The professor nodded at his words and Logan stood up to leave. Before he left out the door, the leader of the X-men said, "The path he will choose...it will be revenge." "Can ya blame em?" Logan retorted aas he closed the door behind him leaving the professor alone to think.

* * *

Later...

Jubilee, Bobby, Laura, and Wolverine were making their way towards the medical room. The two mutants had asked the former Weapon X if they could go and check on Marcus to which he complied. The only reason why Laura was there was because Iceman and Jubilee had dragged her along saying "He's your friend. You have to go see him,' until she finally submitted. ***"I should have threatened them into leaving me alone," the long haired girl thought bitterly as they walked to the elevator, "So what he's my friend and he's injured? He'll bounce back like he always does."*** She pushed those thoughts to the back of her head as the door opened and they were in the medical room.

The first thing they saw was Beast in his medical uniform and medical charts in his hand. He regarded them with a wave and smile and led them over to the occupied beds where their beaten patients were resting. "So what's up Hank? These two gonna be alright," Logan asked as he looked at the sleeping forms of Marcus and Gen. The blue furred mutant took one more look at his notes before answering, "Yes, thankfully neither had any life threatening injuries but they were going to be out for a while. Marcus had a few bruises all over his body but the one that seemed to hurt the most was the one to the gut. Mr. Gen is in a similar condition except he has a swords scar on his chest but as I said they'll be fine. They just need rest."

At those last words Gen stirred in his sleep and to the dismay of the X-men he rose up slowly with opened eyes. He turned his head to look at the five X-men in front of him and the sleeping shadow bender to his right. The armor plated mutant regarded Hank and asked, "Will he be alright?" Beast stood still thinking over if he should tell the man anything but a nod from Logan told him it was okay, "Yes he's in good condition and should wake up tomorrow." "Your sure?" "Yes," Beast replied to Gen with a reassuring tone. The bald man took one more look at the boy before laying back down with a sigh of relief. "That's good hear," he started again as he addressed the four that participated in the mall battle,"I'm sorry if I may have hurt any of you."

The teenage mutants were skeptical about their former enemy's mood change but Jubilee decided to speak up, "Uh its okay really." When Bobby gave her a nudge in the shoulder the fireworks shooter knew why and decided to keep going, "But Mr. Gen we have a question to ask. If its all right with you." The man in question looked at the fidgeting girl and asked, "Are you three... his friends?" Two of them gave a nod while one had to cross her arms before giving a small nod.

The trio were surprised to see a smirk appear on the older man's face as he replied, "Thank you for being there for him. I think he would've remained alone if not for the three of you." He turned his sights on Laura, "Especially you young lady." After addressing Laura his smile faded and he took on his well known neutral look to say, "Now you wish to understand what is really going on?" His words elicited a few nods but before he went any further he glanced back at Marcus for a few seconds before he could do anything else.

"If I'm correct then Marcus had already told you about his past and the day when we mounted an attack on Cross?" he asked directing his attention to Wolverine. "Yeah he told us." the soldier mutant replied. "Well then," Gen started as he placed one hand in the other, "I will tell you why we did what we did that day."

* * *

_Two Months Ago..._

"_Okay then does everyone know the battle plan," asked Phoebe after going over the mission briefings. She and her gang of mutants were held up in an abandoned warehouse in New York as they planned for their attack against Damon Cross and they needed it to be perfect. Naturally the heavy hitters were Tamara and Gen so they would take care of any hired help the man may have payed for. John and the tins were on reconnaissance since they could find out where an enemy would appear and handle him. Finally that left the new kid: Marcus who could easily handle anything else on his own while Phoebe would charge right in and get to the person they were all aiming for in order to make sure the plan is a success._

"_Hey Phebe's I got a question," asked John as he leaned forward in his seat to regard the group's leader through his sunglasses, "What do we do if Damon tries to make us betray each other?" "What are you talking about John," Tamara said sitting across from Gen, "We would never betray one another." "Even at the cost of our loved ones," quipped the brown haired teenager causing tension to build in the group. _

_After that nobody said anything because none of them felt they could actually attack one of their own even for the sake of saving a family member. "We shall proceed as planned," said Phoebe over the surprised looks of her teammates, "And if we are forced to turn against someone...we shall attack them until we can find a way to defeat Cross if we should fail today." The way she spoke betrayed what she really felt. Even the stern soldier like leader of the small band of mutants didn't think she could go along with the idea of attacking anyone of them. She may have retracted her words if not for Marcus._

"_Okay then let's go with it." The shadow bender's words made a major impact on everyone but it was Gen who voiced his opinion, "Marcus, Phoebe are you both sure about this? It is a risky move and there is always a chance we may get found out." "Then we'll just have to be convincing," retorted the fifteen year old with his confident smirk, "We don't have much of a choice in the matter because if we miss this chance, we might never get it again." Gen could only nod at the boy's rational point and see what was going to be the next roadblock in this plan. "But whose going to be the scapegoat?" asked the illusionist of the group, Teresa as she sat next to Lida. The others went quiet again as they didn't know who would have to be the one they would have to sacrifice._

_The twins were definitely out of the question since they were too young for something like that. John couldn't do it since he would always be their ticket out of danger. And Phoebe has been a good leader to them and letting her fall would not be in their best interests. That left only Marcus, Gen, and Tamara to take up the role. Gen was about to volunteer himself but Marcus beat him to the punch. "I'll take on that job guys." Immediately the power couple of the group began protesting that Marcus let them handle it but once again the boy was able to sway them. _

"_It makes since for me to do this. To Damon's knowledge I'm the newest member of this group and we all know that for some reason he's trying to capture me. So if he does pull anything like threatening your families and you have to fight me I'm cool with it." "But what about your family," interjected Phoebe with concern, "You wish to save them don't you?" Marcus leaned forward in his seat with his usual smile but his teal eyes and words held nothing but seriousness. "That's why I'm counting on you guys to keep them out of danger and protect them. No matter what." On cue the others tried to persuade the shadow bender to rethink his idea but he wouldn't budge from it and after a while the ragtag team of mutants submitted to the crazy plan._

_After the small meeting the six mutants were about to go off and have some fun before the big fight they were going to have. However before they could get far they were surprised to see their green banged leader slam her hands on the table in their "middle" room. When they turned around to see her she gave them all her most stern golden eyed gaze before giving one last order. "Now listen up people and listen good…" she stood up like a proud soldier, "We are about to the most dangerous thing in our whole entire lives by going up against Damon Cross. He's probably got an army waiting for us and we may even get hurt if we go in there." Phoebe stopped for dramatic effect before giving her finishing impact, "But that doesn't mean that you all can die! I expect you all to come back here alive and with the ones you care about! No exceptions!"_

_Everyone stared at the authoritative woman for a good long time. Long enough for her to actually think about what she said and blush slightly. "Ah we love you too, Commander Phoebe," said Marcus in a attempt to break the silence. It worked but now the warehouse was full of laughs over their leader's expense._

* * *

Back in the present...

"And that's why we have fought against Marcus," Gen finished his story with his eyes closed with a relieved sigh. "Yeah that does sound like something Marcus would say," Bobby commented as he stroked his chin. Jubilee and Laura nodded to his words while Logan kept his eyes on the mutant laying the medical bed with questionable eyes. He still didn't trust Gen since all the stuff that's happened. Finally he voiced his opinion, "Look you may be the kid's friend but you still attacked us. How do we tell if you're telling the truth?"

"Because he's telling the truth." Everyone turned to see that Marcus had woken up from his sleep much earlier than he was supposed to. The shadow bender sat up on his bed in a cross legged position with his trademark smile. He winced however when he felt a stab of pain in his rib most likely from his pal X. "Hmph, so you were awake the entire time boy?" Gen asked with a smirk like he already knew the answer. "Yep," the spiky haired boy replied, "Didn't want to interrupt the story. I still get a kick out of remembering Phoebe's face." "You did have a habit for saying things like that in certain times."

"More like a gift when you consider the results he gets," remarked Jubilee that elicited some short laughs from everyone except Logan and Laura. Marcus noticed their non- reactions and said, "Man you guys really are father and daughter. No sense of humor."

"So you knew that they were pulling punches and you decided to leave that part out," questioned Logan as he folded his arms in a stern school teacher way. "Oh yeah uh," Marcus chuckled nervously under the former Weapon X's gaze, "I was sworn to secrecy and I had to make sure that you guys were convincing. And what better way than not knowing at all?" The teenage X-men gave their goofy friend the look friends give to each other when they've done something wrong. Now feeling completely guilty the shadow bender hung his head down and apologized.

***"It is alright Marcus,"*** the telepathic voice of Charles Xavier said as he suddenly entered the conversation, causing the boy in question to yelp and nearly fall out of his bed. "I'm not sure if I'm ever gonna get used to that," he joked as he laid back down to get comfortable for whatever it was the Professor was going to say.

"So Chuck what's your take on this whole thing? They tellen the truth," Logan asked the man said to be the most powerful psychic mind on the planet. ***"I have listened to their words Logan and neither held any lies or hesitation. They are telling the truth."*** "Told ya," quipped the shadow bender but his words earned him a glare from Logan and he shut up again.

"Professor Xavier," Gen addressed the psychic mutant while looking towards the ceiling, "I know that given what I've done and how I've been treated already-" ***"Mr. Gen,"*** the Professor interjected him, ***"There is no need to feel ashamed or sorry. We understand that you and Marcus did what you had to do in order to help those close to you. We will not condemn for what you have done."***

"Man he's a cool guy," Marcus cut in again but this time he got nods from the mutants. This time Hank got into the conversation, "Well we can talk more in the morning. You two still need your rest if you want to be walking around by tomorrow." Marcus pulled off a disgruntled expression and was about to protest but he got some convincing from Laura and he and Gen slept in the medical room that night.

* * *

The next day...

Marcus and Gen were fully healed of their wounds much to the amazement of Hank McCoy as he went over their medical work. After some testing he reasoned that they just get over pain easily. After having a some breakfast, the Professor called the some of the X-men and their two guests into the meeting room. Once everyone was gathered the Professor started the meeting, "First to those of you who don't know, this is Gen." he extended his right hand out in front of the tall dark man who gave a bow to them, "He is a friend of Marcus and as of yesterday he is a friend to us as well."

The others took a quiet glance at the man for a seconds before Nightcrawler asked, "Professor vhat's going on? Ve had to help and treat this guy yesterday but from vhat I've heard isn't he supposed to be a bad guy?" "Actually Kurt some information has come to light and Mr. Gen is not the person we thought he is," the Professor explained, "In fact he is an ally of Marcus and they've been secretly fighting for a good cause." "Wait so the last time we saw those two fighting each other that was just an act?" asked Rouge catching the attention of the first string of X-men.

"Yyyeah that was fake," Marcus sheepishly replied feeling the questioning glances of the students close in on him. He already knew what they were thinking too: _Marcus getting beaten to a bloody pulp is their idea of putting on a show!_ Silence filled the room until Cyclops asked, "So they've been fighting against Damon Cross in secret?" "That is correct Scott." the professor answered before putting one fist in his other palm, "Not much is known about this Mr. Cross but we do know that he is after Marcus and Laura at the moment since he had decided to join up with Hydra."

"That group that's after Laura," asked Jubilee to which the clone gave a nod before letting the professor continue. "Yes we have two very powerful enemies who after our fellow mutants here. Although we may not know what their true motives are, if we do not oppose them we may encounter another incident like the mall earlier today." The bald but very influential man stopped for a second to let the news sink in to his students. "So with this in mind we shall help to stop Hydra and this Damon Cross once and for all."

"We're ready to fight anytime Professor." Scott said as he stood from his seat. Spyke was next to speak, "Yeah we'll show him what happens when he messes with our friends." "Actually I'm not so sure if its such a good idea." Everyone turned to see that it was Marcus who had said that and looked at him questioningly. "Whoa don't get me wrong or anything, I'm very appreciative about what your doing but after what happened at the mall I'm a little afraid about what might happen later." Only Bobby and Jubilee were the only ones to cringe in fear since they were present to see Marcus's... moment of anger. That was definitely something they didn't want to go through again.

"There's nothing to worry about," said Laura much to everyone's surprise, "If you try anything like that again we'll just beat you until your back to normal. Simple." Marcus cringed at the her suggestion and even more after everyone decided to agree with it. Soon the meeting was over and everyone else aside from the professor and the mutants who knew were at the mall were left. "Why do I have such a huge feeling of fear?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Marcus," Gen called for the boy who turned his head to face his friend and trainer, "At the mall when you displayed your mutant powers and made that strange armor." "Yeah?" "It was very amazing and from the way it seemed it helped power up your natural abilities. When did you come up with it?" Marcus placed a finger on his chin and creased his brow to think back on his outburst of power. It felt different when he made that shadow armor in a good way but he never thought about using his ability like that before.

"Yesterday was the first time I've ever done anything like that. Why?" Those words made Gen close his own eyes like he was in deep concentration while the others stood in place waiting for him to say something. After a minute he opened his charcoal eyes again and turned to Marcus and say, "Marcus something is not right."

* * *

Suddenly...

_BOOM!! CRASH!_

Several explosions were heard and felt outside the Institute. Inside a few screams were heard while other were hitting the deck. Inside the meeting room everyone was on the ground as Logan yelled, "Charles what's going on?" The psychic placed his hands on his head to concentrate before answering, "There are some armed soldiers in the front yard. They appear to be chasing someone." "Who?" "I can't tell yet everything so erratic that-"

"Marcus! Gen! Help me please!"Everyone turned towards the pair who had been called as they moved from their spots to fling the windows open. It took them only a second to see the form a small light brown haired girl in slightly burnt clothing running towards the mansion with six black uniformed gunman on her tail. Without even a glimpse of her face the shadow bender knew exactly who she was.

"Lida hang on!" Marcus called as he and Gen hopped out of the window and ran to help the ten year old. The mystery soldiers saw the pair running to them and stopped their pursuit of the girl to open fire on them but Gen moved in front of Marcus as he donned his titanium armor to take in all the bullets. When he was close enough the shadow bender leapt into the air to jump kick one soldier in the head before summoning a few shadow tentacles to take care of another three.

The last two who got away began firing on Lida again but Gen saved her by scooping her up in his arms and shielding her from the blast. He could only protect her in this position but luckily helped had arrived in the form of Laura sporting her adamantium claws. She gave of a battle cry as jumped over the steel mutant and landed close to the gunman. After landing she slashed at both of them which sliced their guns away and caused slice marks to appear on there uniforms before roundhouse kicking the both of them into unconsciousness.

With the battle over Marcus and Laura ran up to Gen as he held the shivering and crying Lida in his regular arms. "Lida. Lida what happened," Marcus asked with much concern in his voice. The chestnut haired ten year old only looked at him before wiping the tears out of her eyes. "It all happened so fast. I saw that something was wrong when I drew it but I didn't understand it. Then Mr. Cross had called us into a room and suddenly it was filled with those strange men in jumpsuits. The next thing I knew we were running and..," she spoke hesitantly as she began to build up tears again. "Come on Lida. Tell us what happened," Gen persisted as he held her tighter.

Abruptly she spoke and cried at the same time, "He found out! Mr. Cross found out our secret and and he got Phoebe and Tamara! He got John as soon as he made a portal for us to get away in and...," she stopped for a second, "He got Teresa when she pushed me in the portal that sent me here and those guys followed me and started shooting at me!!" The little girl cried again as she buried her sobbing face in Gen's chest as the bald man averted his eyes as he digested the news.

Marcus on the other hand was clenching his fist so hard that they were about to bleed. As she saw the anger welling inside the boy again, Laura decided to calm them all down by dropping to one knee and placing a hand on Lida's head. The future seer stopped crying and turned to look at the tan girl who somehow managed to offer her gentle smile. "There's nothing to worry about," she said in a soft tone, "Me and Marcus are going to get your sister and your friends back." At those words Marcus regained his composure and managed to bring back his own smile as the ten year old looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Really?"

"Definitely," he replied as he gave her a thumbs up that settled her down as she drifted off to sleep, exhausted from everything that happened today. Gen stood up and carried her back into the mansion with the two teenagers behind them. Marcus stopped as he turned back towards the small battlefield. ***"This time Cross you've gone too far,"*** he thought as he felt some of the shadows around him twitch, ***"Now..,"*** His eyes took on their darker appearance, ***"... I'm going to end this."***

Ch.8 end

First things were bad, then sorta alright and now they're really bad.

Well things are definitely heating up here. Damon's found out about Marcus's group and taken some of them hostage. Now Marcus is more determined to do something major but will he cross that line? As always its hard to get all this done but I'm satisfied that I did. Please leave a review if you can so I can do better in the future.

Next time Marcus decides to take on Hydra and Damon on his own but is he falling right into a trap? And can Laura and the X-men save the day before Cross is able to succeed in his mysterious plans? Find out in the next chapter.

Oh yeah and I'm also going to be late on the next chapter because of school and this idea for a Negima fanfic. Please bear with it and wait for next time.

AJ Katon out.


	9. Chapter 9

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch. 9 Out of the bag, into the fray

_A day ago..._

_At Hydra's island base..._

"_Well done. Excellent job." complimented Damon Cross as he reviewed the battle footage from the mall. He was inside the warehouse on the Hydra Base accompanied by Madame Hydra. The look on his face was a mere smirk of satisfaction as he saw Marcus take on the X-men and the others in his Berserk shadow form. The more he viewed the greater the expression grew as he continued to watch. Madame Viper however was very irked on the fact that her weapon hadn't been delivered yet and was at the end of her patience._

"_Cross," she started with a clearly agitated and cold tone, "Why have you neglected your end of the deal? You said that you would have X23 by now but all I've seen you do is gawk at videos about her accomplice!" _

"_Everything is moving along just like I need Madame. There is nothing to worry about." he replied with a hint of mischievous intent that drew back the deadly leader of Hydra. She could never tell what the man was thinking and that was an X factor she didn't like. "What do you mean?" she asked as she walked forward to see his face._

"_You see I was getting a little worried about Marcus so I decided to see him today." he stopped to consider the feed again. "But it looks like my fears have been put to rest." "What?" "I was afraid he was getting weaker during his time off. Too much peace can make a strong fighter lose his edge. And for my plans to be a reality I can't have him slipping up."_

_Viper glanced at the man who expressed himself to her before turning her gaze to the screens as well. She focused intently as she watched the shadow bender form his armor of sorts and battle Wolverine and the other mutants up to the last blow from X23. She took a few seconds to think over what he could be up to. After a while she stated, "You purposely told that boy that his mother was dead. Why?"_

"_To make him stronger." he answered with no hesitation and an evil grin. X23's greatest enemy's face turned to Damon's with a look of confusion mixed with slight anger. "What?! Why would you want to make him stronger?!"_

_The white maned man turned to the woman he described as lovely and explained, "Because commander if I push him far enough he will finally go into such a state of pure anger that he won't distinguish friend from foe. And when that happens it will be all the easier to bring him under our control and have him decimate the X-men and bring in X23." Cross figured the whole idea sat well with the organization's leader as a chilling smile formed on her face. But was a little confused when she let out a maniacal laugh that lasted for half a minute. _

_The joyed uproar finally ended as she asked, "Do you really think that shadow bender can actually defeat X23!? She was bred and made to fight and I'm fairly certain that she can dismember the boy without even trying." "Hm I figured as much." he replied coolly eliciting another look of confusion from his accomplice. He noticed her facial feature and replied, "I still need him to be strong enough to at least take down the X-men and if we play this right we can have both unstoppable weapons in our grasps."_

"_I noticed you kept saying "we"." she sid crossing her arms and giving the slightly taller man a questioned glare. Cross merely went on as if unphased by it, "I'm only saying that when we both get what we want you may consider giving me the honor, " he stopped to take her hand a place a small kiss on it before looking into her eyes intensely, "of having this partnership again." A light blush appeared on the woman's face before disappearing again and she shook the man off of her. "As I've no doubt told you before: flattery will get you nowhere."_

"_Oh well such a shame." he responded quickly after being rejected. "Now I've believe it's time for the next act." Eye rolling was evident from Madame Hydra from the man's strange thirst for theatrics. "Ugh what are you talking about Cross?" Another chilling grin formed on the manipulator's mouth as he regarded the lady commander again. "I believe its time to...up the ante.

* * *

_

_Turning to somewhere else..._

_Everything was black for a while as a young girl made her way through the tunnel. She was searching for the people she called her family because she had lost them when they separated at the front of the dark passageway. She kept her hands to the wall as she continued her march deeper and deeper into them mystery place until she came across a small light._

_A small glimmer of hope overcame her as she ran towards the growing source of illumination. She got closer and closer until finally she found herself closing her eyes from how bright it was but she pressed on._

_Suddenly Lida found herself back in front of the old warehouse she used to live in. Her mouth laid open in both surprise and happiness seeing the place again. Completely overcome with feeling she rushed to the door and opened hoping to see exactly who she wanted to see. She was not disappointed._

_There in the living room sat her family of six in various places watching television while the other two newest members were in the kitchen making something yummy. Bald head Gen was sitting next to bubbly Tamara as always since those two were inseparable. John was probably the only one watching the tube since his back was facing to her. Phoebe was reading a book with the stoic face that she was revered for, well by Lida anyway. The chestnut haired girl spotted her twin sister playing with their family goofball Marcus and frowned a small bit. She wanted to play with him too. Finally the two other people were Ms. Stanford: Marcus's mom. She was nice and known to discipline if needed. And there was Jacob: Marcus's dopy younger brother. He was always such a crybaby and even though he was slightly older than her she enjoyed picking on him._

_Marcus spotted Lida at the door and with a smile he said, "Hey there princess! Whatcha up to?" Lida's face lit up as she ran to the fifteen year old with open arms and glomped him. He almost fell over at the emotional display but managed to balance himself and take a cursory look at the crying girl. "Hey, hey princess what's wrong?" "Your back," she began to speak between sobs, "...your all back. I thought...I'd never see you all again."_

_Everyone looked at each other with confused looks before regarding the still crying girl on Marcus's black shirt. Lida was so overcome with emotion that she didn't notice the warm hand that was rubbing her head until she decided to look to her left to see a smiling Phoebe. "Lida don't worry we'll always be here for you. That's what families are for." With that heartwarming sentiment the clairvoyant girl began to cry less and unlatched herself from the shadow bender's shirt to hug the lightning leader. Everything was good and fine as she shared this moment with those she cared about. That is until their came a knock on the door._

_After that sound was heard everything fell apart. Her warm home was replaced with a room of darkness where she was looking into the brown yet handsome face of the evil Damon Cross. Lida stood before him clearly afraid while slowly taking steps back as Damon started moving towards her. He was stopped when six figures appeared to defend the ten year old. Lida immediately recognized them as her friends and stood up to stand next to them to beat their mutual enemy._

_The white haired manipulator didn't appear disturbed by their numbers which confused Lida since there was more of them and only one of him. Her question was answered when the smirking businessman snapped his gloved fingers and the area was brightened by stage lights. To the future seers surprise, the dark room was replaced with the two floor warehouse that Lida and the gang where using when they partnered with Madame Hydra._

_But what really caught her eyes was the appearance of thirty armed men in hydra jumpsuits sporting large guns and Marcus's mom and brother by Damon's side. She felt something bad was going to happen but when she tried to tell Phoebe and the gang they rushed from their spots to fight the army, powers at the ready. Her feelings proved true when Cross snapped his gloved fingers and the Hydra men opened fire. _

_Lida turned her head as bullet after bullet was shot and some screaming could be heard. After a few minutes the sounds had ceased and Lida was still facing the other way afraid of what she might see if she turned around. Taking a moment to gather her courage, the chestnut haired mutant looked back to the scene and did the only thing she could do at the moment. She screamed._

_On the battered pavement she saw the bloody forms of Tamara and Gen next to each other as if in an embrace. John was in a sitting position with the red liquid trailing down his head and his glasses slightly broken on his face. Lida's eyed widened in horror as she scanned the room for signs of her only surviving friends and saw the blooded but still standing forms of Marcus and Phoebe and the slightly cut and bruised forms of Diane and Jacob as they guarded the bleeding form of Teresa from the lesser numbers of troops from before._

_Lida ran over to them and fell to the ground next to her to hold the only twin she had hoping she was still alive. Luckily Teresa stirred and opened her eyes to see the red eyed face of her identical sister looking back at her. The illusionist gave her a smile as she slowly stood up with Lida supporting her. _

_Marcus didn't look at Phoebe as he asked, "Phoebe what do we do?" The green banged girl looked at the remaining numbers of soldiers still their before turning her gaze back to the man in charge of them as she tried to form a plan. After taking two minutes, she closed her eyes as an idea struck her. "We're going to make a run for it." she ordered turning back to regard everyone else, "Marcus your going to lead them out of here while I give you cover. We may not have much time and we need to leave while we can." _

_The shadow bender turned to look at the only people that were still alive and knew that he couldn't argue with his leader/friend. The others needed to be safe and he and Phoebe were the only one's still alive to do it. "Mom, everyone," he started to get their attention, "you heard Phoebe. Get ready to run for your lives. Remember to stay close to me and when you get out that door don't stop running. Understand?" The survivors nodded to him telling him that they were ready._

"_On the count of three Phoebes?" asked the shadow bender as he readied his shadow powers to defend. Phoebe nodded while followed his example as lightning began flashing in her fists and she got into a stance. _

"_One." Everyone tensed to move. "Two." The five who were going to run slowly turned their feet in the other direction. "THREE!!" yelled Phoebe as she released her energy blast on the hydra troops letting Marcus and the others start their run. The fifteen year old mutant summoned a shadow shield that managed to block all the enemy fire long enough for the battle weary group to reach the open doors. But something happened that stopped them all in their tracks._

"_Aaaaaaahh!!" shrieked the feminine voice of Phoebe from behind them as the bullet barrage ended. The small group made the unfortunate mistake turning back to see what happened as Marcus dropped his shadow barrier. That mistake caused them to witness one of the worst things ever to be seen._

_They saw the mutant they knew as a strong, capable leader and loved friend in a horrible state. They saw Phoebe on her knees facing them with a sad smile with Damon standing behind her holding a gun to her head. _

_Marcus was the first to react. "Damon, don't!!"_

_An evil smile formed on the man's face as he pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed throughout the warehouse as the former lightning user's friends saw her fall to the ground for the last time. _

_The younger members acted the way any kid would act if they saw someone dieing before them especially a loved one: they shook their heads in denial and began to cry. Diane held them all in a protective hug to get them to settle down as she turned back to her eldest son who had his head drooped down. "Marcus we have to get these children out of here." she told him once the kids had finally calmed down._

_The raven haired boy didn't reply but nod at her statement before extending his hand out to his side. His shadow blade formed in seconds as he shifted to his stance much to his mother's worry. "Marcus what are you-" She didn't have enough time to ask as Marcus launched from his spot to kill the man he hated. _

_'Kyaaaa!" he roared as he rose a couple of feet in the air, fueled with nothing but rage and the desire to see Damon dead. But before he could complete his charge the devil of a man switched his hands from the gun one to the other holding a small circular device. "Fool!" he yelled as an array of white light shot out of it and hit the teal eyed mutant on the chest. _

"_AAAaagh!" his screams flowed throughout the room as he felt some indescribable pain coursing through his entire body. His mother screamed his name but it was lost on the boy as his electrified pain dulled out his hearing. After a few seconds the blast subsided and Marcus fell to the ground face first. He was still conscious as he slowly picked himself up but he could only go as far as crouching on one knee. _

_Diane saw that her son didn't have enough strength to move and was about to rush to his side but stopped when Marcus told her to. "Mom don't! You..and the others..still need to get out of here." "No! not without you!" "There's not enough time! Just go!" he ordered looking at her but when he saw the fear in all of his friends eyes he turned back to see Damon standing over him._

_Fearing the worst, Marcus held out his left hand towards the survivors and created a shadow portal to get them to safety. However it was too late for him when his arch enemy thrusted the strange device in front of the boy and the strange light enveloped him again. This time, from the survivor's view, the light seemed to be draining Marcus of something else as they noted him nodding off._

_Damon increased the power of his machine which caused Marcus to yell in pain. As the shadow portal began finished closing in on the only one's left, Lida could only stare at the scene before her with widened eyes of fear and small tears. *__**"No. It shouldn't be this way. This can't be real! It just can't!"**__*she hysterically thought as she took another look around the bloody battlefield again. Her old friends were now dead and gone and now she was about to lose another but she couldn't leave the escape move he made for them or it would have been in vain._

_Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts as she heard Marcus issue one last yell and saw that his head was held up in Cross's hand with blood dripping down on his face. "Goodbye, Marcus." Damon's words echoed the room as he let go of the shadow bender's head and let him fall to the ground. Marcus fell with a loud thud and it was evident that he was no longer of the living. _

_At the sight of the boy's defeated form the devil known as Damon Cross gave off a proud and victorious roar of laughter while Lida only screamed on word. "MMMMMaaaarrccccccussss!!!"

* * *

_

"_Lida. Lida wake up." called John as he shook the crying girl to get her to wake up. She was incredibly loud as she screamed in her sleep that someone finally decided to get her out of it. This was a normal occurrence since it happened alot. _

_After some more shaking the girl finally snapped awake and sat up in her bed in cold sweat and a fearful look in her eyes. She shuddered a bit as she tried to remember her surroundings and when she saw the brown haired teleporter next to her she immediately cowered away from him. "Whoa Lida, Lida its me John. You know good old John, part of the team." he said to her with his hands up in a friendly manner. Lida took a second to adjust her eyes to and see that it was her pal John next to her and at the sight of him she started to cry and sprung from her bed to hug him._

"_I-i-i-its real-ly you John," she stuttered, "I-I thought you were dead. I thought everyone was dead." The teleporter gave her a confused look until she tried to explained everything she had dreamt about but all she could remember was vague images. With this new information John smiled at her while patting her head. "Lida don't worry so much. It was just a dream, nothing to stress over."_

"_But you know that I can see things from the future." Lida retorted which struck a chord in her companion's soul, "What if I saw our future? What if we all end up that way?!" Her words caused John to sweat a bit and think on the matter. Lida's ability wasn't fully developed but she still was able to get a few things right from her whenever she had a vision. So if there is a strong chance that she did have a premonition of death, her dream shouldn't be treated lightly. "Let's get Phoebe and the others. They'll need to know." The clairvoyant girl nodded to him as she removed her covers and walked with him upstairs to the others._

_A few seconds later they spotted Phoebe lying on her back probably taking a short nap while Tamara was messing with Teresa hair. John called them all together in the center of the warehouse and went over what Lida had already told him. Once the explanation was finished the expressions the three girls had switched from confusion to horror to determined._

"_Well if what you're saying is true we need to get contact Marcus and Gen and finally take Cross down." stated Phoebe as she took over the discussion. The others gave her nods of approval before John voiced, "If so we need to leave her first. It may not be safe to-"_

_Blam!!_

_The others were stunned with sock as they saw John fall back to the ground over the gunshot in his arm. He landed on his back thankfully still alive but felt himself starting to drift off as the girls crouched next to him. Phoebe looked at his shoulder to inspect his wound and found that he was shot not with a regular bullet but with-_

"_X23's drug darts." called an overconfident voice from behind them. All five of them turned around to see the malicious grin of Damon Cross. What shocked them even more was the storm of hydra troops armed with the same guns that were armed with the powerful drug. It was exactly as they feared: Lida's prediction came true but in a different way. "Quite powerful I might say and it has to be to take down such a spunky girl. Unfortunately I don't think John will be awake for long."_

_Phoebe stood up with clenched fists and growled, "What the hell are you doing Cross?!" A chuckle escaped his mouth as he answered," Ironically enough I believe its called a double cross." "But why?! Why would you do this to us?!"_

"_Because you were already planning to do it to me. And I don't mean just now but ever since you worked for me and "betrayed" Marcus." His words caused shocked expressions to befall all six members of Marcus's gang. Damon had been onto their little plan and played along with it to get what he wanted. Quiet control of their true battle. _

_Phoebe gritted her teeth and kept her fists balled up as she asked, "How did you find out?" A smirk graced his brown face as he answered, "Simple you just told me." Confusion was evident before he explained, "You see I was always suspicious of you all when you chased after Marcus so I decided to spy on you while you were with me. You guys were pretty good actors and I was about to finally throw off my suspicions."

* * *

_

_While he was in full gloat mode..._

"_Psst. Girls." said John as he tried to get the attention of his friends. They couldn't turn to him since that would tell Cross about their still awake trump card. 'What is it?" asked Lida since she was still crouched next to him. "I don't think I can stay awake for much longer. I've only got one good transport out of here before I'm out for good." _

"_Then its gotta be the twins," said Tamara as she and Phoebe stole glances from their peripheral vision " right, Phoebes?" "Naturally," the green banged girl responded, "Lida, Teresa get ready to move." Teresa said yes to the leader but Lida was about to object when was scolded by Phoebe, "This is not the time for a discussion! Just do as I say!" After those words the future seer held her tongue as Tamara and John began talking to see how they would plan it out while Phoebe continued to eye Damon.

* * *

_

_Turning back to his rant..._

_He stopped to let the moment have a dramatic pause. "However that was until I reviewed the data I received from the mall and found something quite interesting. I managed to catch a small tidbit from Marcus's little conversation before he was knocked out. I believe it was "all an act"."_

_He regarded the four girls with a neutral look which was quite different than usual. "Now the act is up and its time for me to get rid of a few too many players." He raised his right hand to signal the reloading of guns as the he stared down Phoebe seeing as she and Tamara were the only real threats here. As he brought his fist down he yelled, "Fire!" and the darts were flying._

"_Now!" cried Phoebe as she launched herself at the shots with a lightning burst in her hands while Tamara grabbed a large piece of the metal floor and pulled it up the make a shield for her and the others. "John do it." The pink haired teenager told the teleporter and on cue he managed to squeeze out that last portal on the girl's side of the steel barrier. It was slightly smaller than usual and it looked like it was getting smaller with each passing second._

"_Okay you two hurry and find Marcus and Gen. They'll protect you and-" _

_Bam!! Foosh! Crash!_

_The gang looked in behind them to see the beaten and unconscious form of Phoebe and knew that time was very short. It was even shorter when the makeshift shield exploded leaving them and the portal exposed. They turned to see Damon on the other side of the shield holding the same device from Lida's dream and that it still had that blew glow like it was going to attack._

"_I'm sorry." said John as the girls turned to see his arm gradually falling down and his eyes slowly closing, "I can't...hold it...any..more." Then allow me to get rid of it for you." responded Cross as he raised his weapon against the portal and shot one blast from it. "No!" yelled Teresa as she thought fast and pushed Lida inside the only way to freedom much to her sister's surprise. _

_As she fell into the abyss of the transporting realm she saw the gate she came in erupt in a strange explosion of light and felt she had lost her sister for real this time. _

"_Teeeereesaaaa!"

* * *

_

Back in regular time...

"Lida wake up!" Gen repeatedly told the young girl trying to shake out of her horrible dream that made her scream for a while. He gave her one last pat on the cheek she finally woke from her disturbed slumber with a start and was shaking a bit. Gen took her into a hug and said to her, "Its all right Lida. It's all going to be alright. Just go back to sleep now." The ten year old girl sniffled as she nodded and went back to resting.

The bald tall man gave her a few moments before getting up to leave her to rest in the medical bay of the Xavier Institute. It had been several hours since they took the clairvoyant girl in and she had told them what had happened back at the hydra base and she collapsed due to fatigue. Now she needed to relax before she could walk around or do anything.

As Gen walked out through the sliding door he stopped and said, "She still needs to sleep some more. Give her some more time alright?" Marcus didn't respond to the man and only stayed in his current position with his arms crossed and eyes down on the ground in guilt. Gen eyed the shadow bender out of the corner of his eye to let out a sigh. As he continued his march he said, "Do not blame yourself, Marcus. We were all fooled and now we have to resolve the matter." Then he left on the elevator leaving the now midnight blue eyed teen alone with his thoughts.

* * *

An hour later...

"No, I won't do it." retorted an arm crossed pouting Laura Howlett as she turned her pissed gaze towards the Professor and a few others with him. The reason behind the summons was that Laura was called into Xavier's study where they asked her to do the one thing she had never thought of or even wanted to do. They wanted her to have a heart to heart talk with Marcus. Which was not going to happen anytime soon.

"Laura please understand," said Gen as he tried his hand to get her to do the task asked of her, "We're all worried about what Marcus might do right now. With everything that's happened he may just rush off to fight Damon Cross on his own." "What's wrong with that?" "Not only is it stupid and reckless," the older bald mutant started staring at the clone with a neutral expression, "But I fear that it will result in only getting himself and the others killed. So we need to keep him here and calm until we can make a successful countermeasure."

"So what?" the stubborn mutant responded eliciting annoyed looks from everyone, "Its up to that idiot to decide whatever he wants to do with his own life so I don't see why I should be the one to talk to him." "You're his pal," Logan added. "If its something like that then why not get Jubilee or Bobby to talk to him?!"

"Because you two have more in common than anyone else." "What could he possibly have in common with me?!" This time Storm took the turn to persuade her since this called for someone who had some influence on the girl. "Well for one you two are the only teenagers we know to be pursued by secret organizations run by dangerous individuals yet you've both in some point managed to pull yourselves through life threatening situations."

The brown haired girl took a few moments to place her hand on her chin and really think about what Storm said. It all was true of course and with Storm saying it Laura gradually began to rethink her position and actually do the job. But once again she proved to be as stubborn as the person she was cloned from and said, "Anything else?"

"You both have a fondness for each other." the weather witch responded with a smile. Her statement unfortunately held bad results for Laura and Logan. Logan grimaced at the idea of X actually liking Marcus like that and silently vowed to not let it happened which earned a quiet chuckle from the Professor. The young Howlett however gave off an exasperated sigh as she placed a hand on her forehead. "You've heard that from the others, haven't you?" "Maybe." Storm replied in mock innocence.

"Well you've heard wrong. I don't even like him that much and yet everyone seems to think we're best friends or something." "Aren't you?" "No! He's just someone to talk to and sometimes I occasionally hit him but that's because he keeps messing with me!" "Sounds like a pal to me X." Logan said bringing an annoyed look upon the face of his daughter. "Well it doesn't matter because its not like that." She crossed her arms once again like a pouty teenage girl which, even though kind of cute to Storm, wasn't what they needed right now. They need her to develop some empathy and stop a friend from doing something deadly to his health.

After taking a minute or two an idea struck the white haired mutant as she looked at her victim with a mischievous grin. "You know your right Laura." she said to everyone's surprise especially the fourteen year old in question. "Yes I mean why should you have an emotional talk with someone like Marcus. He's nosy, goofy, overly stupid, and all around an annoyance."

A small smile formed on Laura's face as she nodded at everything the African woman was saying to her. Finally there was someone who was agreeing with her and Storm on her side she could put this whole debate to rest. However Laura was unaware of the ploy that the woman who she tended flowers with was setting her up for.

"I mean I wouldn't be nice to someone who had done so much stuff for me." Those words caused the Howlett girl's cheerful expression change to that of confusion. "I mean its not like he's ever listened to you..." But he did listen every time she needed to talk to and that realization made a stab of guilt from in her. "... or did anything you asked of him without complaining..." again another twinge of pain since he was pretty much a big help to her adjusting here at the Institute. Her pain started to make her shake in mild agitation as she felt like she knew where this was going. A smirk formed on Ororo's face as she delivered the final blow, "...or even just being there for you. Without these traits I can see why you wouldn't want to have a warm to him in return for all he's done."

Laura looked at Storm with eyes of disbelief at the older silver maned woman who had formed a large mountain of reasons why she should do something that was against her will. Storm had laid out all the cards to her advantage and to the clone's own dismay she was correct. Marcus had been all those things to her and now that he was in a moment of despair the least she could do is offer some words. Frustrated by the truth she let out a, "Fine!!" and slammed the door as she left out the room.

A smirk formed on all the adults faces as everyone had eyes on Storm. "Now that was evil of you Storm," Logan complimented," Didn't think you'd have it in you." "Well only this once will I use this method. That girl is just as stubborn as her father is so a little persuasion is needed." Reforming his usual stoic face, Gen asked, "Do you think she can help?" Ororo casted her gaze to the floor and replied, "I really don't know. It's possible that she could persuade him to wait but..."

Logan noted the hesitation in her voice and added, "The kid's been through a lot. When you've been down that road, it's all up to you about what to do next." The Wolverine's words held only the truth, not sympathy as the others gave off worried looks. After a minute passed by the Professor moved his chair to look outside the window in sorrowful thought. "Let us hope for the best and take the right precautions for what's to come."

* * *

Switching to a certain shadow bender…

Marcus was lying in the same tree he would always lay in to relax and think. Today was not a good day for him and he seriously needed some alone time. His thoughts kept going over to what he should do now that the secret coup that he and the others were planning for Damon was out and now his family and friends were in more danger than they were in at first. With both the lost of his mother and team members he was at his last straw trying to keep himself composed to stay at the Institute to work out a plan. To top it off he had a sneaking suspicion that someone was insulting him behind his back and that was just annoying.

Taking a deep breath he let out in a deep sigh as he relaxed on the tree branch slowly drifting to sleep fir inner peace. It was shattered however when he felt something hit the tree causing it to shake and him to fall off. He crashed into the ground in seconds thankfully since the tree wasn't that tall but that didn't alleviate the pain to his front body. He slowly got up holding his hurt nose as he looked up to see the arm crossed, usual angry figure of Laura Howlett towering over him like she was going to hurt him. This was strange since neither had talked to each other since the morning fiasco and he thought she would be glad that he had kept quiet for so long.

Deciding he'd better see what's wrong before some sort of pain came his way, he stood up with a smile and asked, "Hey X, any reason for knocking me down?" His answer was the girl getting into a fighting stance before charging for him with a roundhouse kick. He managed to duck from it but was unprepared for the jab to the gut. He staggered back while holding his stomach till he looked up to the girl and whined, "X?! What the hell?!"

"Shut up and fight." After that she immediately went back on the prowl which told Marcus that he'd better get serious. Laura attempted a left hook to the coal haired boy's face but he blocked it with right arm. He turned his torso to counter her with a left back kick but she grabbed it and using it to her advantage threw the shadow bender back to the tree he was resting on.

He fell to the ground on his side hissing with closed eyes in the pain dealt to his back. He opened them to see his angry friend staring back at him. Her green eyes showed her usual emotion: anger but he felt like there was more in there. It looked like disappointment... and concern? What the heck?

"Laura?" he asked thinking that he was probably off about that last part. The former X23 got back into her stance and ordered, "Hurry up and get back up." The boy only looked at her in confusion until he submitted and assumed his own stance. Then the two teenagers began clashing at each other with Laura trying to put some bruises on Marcus while he tried to stall and see what was going on.

After an hour or so of the out of nowhere brawl both of them were panting for breath with Marcus on his butt with his palms on the ground while Laura had her hands on her knees. Marcus was finally able to catch his breath before asking, "Okay Laura what the hell was that about? Why'd you try to bit my head off?"

The girl only panted a little more before giving him a frowned expression before turning her back to him. She didn't respond to him for several minutes and that served to awaken the feeling of anger within the boy as he got up and tackled the girl much to her surprise. He hovered over her with his new darker blue eyes and stared back into her wide green ones. "Why the hell did you attack me?! What's your problem?!" he demanded while his face was very close that the tip of his spiky front hair was on her forehead.

When her senses returned, the long chestnut haired mutant furrowed her brows to say, "You." and socked him in the face. He flew to her left and crashed to the ground with his red cheek on the dirt before getting to face the girl with one eye closed and one hand on the bruised side of his face. She met his gaze with her own as she continued, "Your the one who keeps hiding his emotions and making others feel concerned about you!" she saw him raise an eyebrow and figured he didn't know what she meant.

"Everyone knows that you've been all depressed ever since that Lida girl got here and now they think you'll do something stupid like go off to fight that guy on your own so they sent me out here to talk you out of it." To say that Marcus was surprised to know that everyone thought he would do that. But to find that they had Laura come out here to give him a real heartfelt talk? What the hell were they thinking?!

"So they sent you out here to talk me out of it with kind words or something?" he asked looking dumbfounded at the logic. She let out a loud huff of frustration while folding her arms, "Yeah it was a stupid idea. I _never_ use kind words to peopleand yet they think just because you're nice to me that I should repay it by helping you."

"But even then you are definitely the last person I'd turn to for emotional support." The shadow bender commented before chuckling a bit, "You'd probably tell me to stop being so weak and follow it up with a jab to the arm or something." Suddenly a smirk formed on the usually stoic girl's face as she replied, "Well of course. I mean they seriously can't expect me to be all sunshine and flowers just because you're having a bad time." "You wouldn't be yourself if ya did." Starting to chuckle herself she responded, "Yeah I'd be as bad as my old man or Storm to pull that off."

Then the two mutants who had been chased by shadow organizations and fought against many adversaries did the one thing no one would expect Laura to do at all. They shared a small laugh out in the backyard of the Institute. Unknown to them however their little time was being watched by the Professor, Storm, Gen, and Wolverine on the roof of the mansion. All of them had seen what had happened from the fight to this and were pretty much confused about how it came out like this. Logan and Storm were slightly happy over the fact they managed to see Laura laughing with the friend and treasured the moment seeing noting that it probably won't happen again.

It took Gen to wake them up from their moment and ask, "Do you think she persuaded him to be patient?" The Professor turned his wheelchair around to leave the two kids alone and only answered, "I don't know...but we can hope." With that all the adults took their leave as well hoping that nothing bad would happen.

* * *

Turning back to the mutant duo whose small session was now over...

"So," Laura asked Marcus while he laid on the ground to her right facing the blue sky and she was sitting with her chin on her knees, "Are still going?" Marcus gave her a quick glance while not moving from his spot before looking back to wide area above him. "Yep." he responded with no hesitation. "Are you mad?" Shrugging her shoulder she answered, "Figured you would still go whether or not I said anything."

Raising a brow he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "So what was with the whole beat the crap out of me thing?" "That was just a show for the adults that were watching." she indicated hiking her thumb towards the mansion. "Maybe now they'll leave me alone." "So you weren't serious just now?" The former X23 casted a chilling smirk to the boy as she replied, "Trust me. If I was serious you would be a lot more beat up and you'd be tied to a bed till you came to your senses."

The shadow mutant inwardly cringed at the mental image he had of that and shivered a bit to humor the girl. She got up from her spot to leave him alone but he stopped her by asking, "You don't care about what I'm going to do?" "Its up to you about what you decide to do with your life. If you're set on going I'm not going to stop you."

Marcus noted that she answered him in an indirect way but opted not to point it out. He also rose from his spot and saw that she had her back to him as she walked back to the mansion. He stopped her again to ask, "So you won't be sad if I don't come back alive?" That caused the girl to stop in her tracks as if it pierced her very soul.

Neither of them said a word for several minutes as they stood in place as the wind flew by making Laura's long brown hair flow with it. After a while Marcus got uncomfortable by the long silence and was about to say something until the Howlett girl interrupted him. "You'd better not die out there." The way she sounded was like she was slightly afraid until she returned to her regular firm way of speaking. "Got that?" she demanded turning to him with a pointed finger. "You'd better come back here with your family, those other guys, and yourself here alive. If you don't I'll beat you to death myself and never speak to you again."

Marcus looked at her with a raised brow in confusion over what she just said. If he didn't know any better he could of sworn she sounded like a little kid about to lose her best friend and making them swear to see each other again. That thought caused a mischievous grin to form on his face as he started laughing. The new development made Laura throw in her own bewildered look before frowning at her friend. Did he think she was kidding around? If so he was going to get hurt for thinking that.

A small growl from the self-healing mutant made Marcus stop his fit of the giggles and regard his cranky companion with a smile. "Well Laura since you're so worried about me don't worry. I promise to come back to the Institute no matter what." A slight blush formed on the girl's face as she retorted, "I never said I was worried you idiot! I'm just saying that I forbid you to die, that's all!"

He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder before saying, "Only because you care would you say something like that." Leaving her with another blush he started to laugh again as he made his way back to the house. Had he been paying attention he would have noticed Laura coming up behind him and kicking him in the back. Now she was leaving him in the dirt as she quietly retorted, "Idiot."

* * *

Going towards nighttime...

On Hydra's island...

"All right Damon everything's in place." said Madame Viper as her men were putting the finishing touches on Damon Cross's new machine. He wouldn't specify what it was for but he assured her it was all for their bigger plan. Unfortunately the leader of Hydra couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had from the businessman. Lately she had been easily swayed by his favors and felt a blush everytime he mentioned the two in unison. It was definitely strange change to say the least.

***"Could I be-"*** she started to ponder until she forced such crazy ideas from her head. She was the commander of one of the best weapons organization in the world and even feared by several countries that knew her name. She had no time to be fantasizing over some well muscled handsome guy. ***"Wait did I just say handsome?"***

"Thank you Madame Viper. As always your help is greatly appreciated." Damon replied not noticing his partner's small trouble. He was much too focused on completing his plans for what was to come and he needed to make sure that everything was right. Every henchman needed to be assigned somewhere and some machinery needed fine tuning. So much to do so little time.

"So tell us Cross.." called Gauntlet from the second floor of the warehouse, "What is all this technology for?" That question brought Viper's attention back to the manipulative man as she remembered he'd never told her about why he wanted the boy alive. She assumed it was in order to convince the teenage mutant to join up with him, but given his performances she now knew that wasn't the case. So...what was he really after?

"Like I've said before Mr. Gauntlet," Damon retorted with a small hint of irritation, "It will all be revealed in time. So please continue doing what you were doing and leave everything else to me." His answer left a bad impression on the mutant tracker as he growled at him and went back to his stationed point. The raven haired mistress of Hydra however wasn't as easily swayed into dropping the subject.

"He does raise a valid point here Cross." she said causing an annoyed look to pass on the white haired man's face for a second. He ran a hand over his face as he whined, "Not you too, Madame. Can't we just hold off on the questions?" "Not until some of them are answered." replied his partner, "This whole thing goes beyond making him strong enough just to take on the X-men. You've been making him stronger only because of the so called investment you've placed in him. Just what is this investment anyway?"

Damon only stood in place as Madame Viper awaited his answer. The only clear sign of movement was when he turned his head to her to stare his teal eyes deeply into her coal eyes. The silent exchange caused some uneasiness for the woman seeing as she started to fidget under his gaze and blush again. She averted her gaze so that he wouldn't see her distress but he managed to catch the red hues on her cheeks and smirked at his handiwork.

Finally he decided end the silence by switching the conversation. "We are a lot alike Madame Viper." He got a confused look from her before continuing, "Both of us are intelligent, ruthless, manipulative, and ambitious to get what we want. We desire mutants we created and trained in order to bring about the fruition of our work only to have to them refuse us in our efforts to get them, but most of all..." he stopped as he stepped closer to her until her placed a finger under her chin so that she look him in the eye.

The taller man looked deeply into the beautiful face of Madame Viper as she felt suddenly weak under him. Her blush only became more visible as he made his face come closer to her...so close in fact that their noses were touching and the mouth were only a few inches apart. The cold and calculating leader of the shadow organization was actually shivering over the possible thing that could happen next!

Her eyes were now mere slits as she felt his breath on her as he finished his sentence in a small whisper, "we have only ourselves to trust." "Excuse me Madame Viper?" came the voice of one of Hydra's second class guards that brought the Madame out of her daze as she drew back from the man to assume her official stance and walk over to him. Inwardly she felt relieved that the soldier had come because she would have submitted to Damon if he didn't but he did interrupt her moment so she may punish him for it later.

"What is soldier?" "Mam, we picked up some strange disturbance on our scanners a second ago and further analysis shows that it had a mutant frequency." This news registered in Madame Viper as she turned around to see Damon displaying an evil smirk as he walked toward the two people talking. When he stood beside her she ordered, "Go to a red alert and have all troops ready to move out. We may have an intruder on base and if so I want immediate capture. Is that understood?" "Mam." the soldier responded with a salute and was about to exit.

Before he could leave his devilish employer stopped him to have a final word. "Now I don't now how much you saw just now but if I hear any news of this spreading around..." she paused a cruel and menacing smirk appeared on her lovely face that would have made the man wet himself. "..there will be a most excruciating punishment for you. Understood?" He stammered as he responded a yes to her _warning_ and left in a hurry.

"Whooo still got the magic touch I see." commented Cross. "Shut up," retorted the commander before she looked at him and asked, "Are you sure it's him?" Another smirk formed on the man's brown face. "Oh yes he's here. No one goes through what I've put him through without wanting revenge. Trust me he wants me dead and he'll have to come here to get it." His words had truth to them and with that he decided to head to his computer room to put the final stages on but stopped to regard his business associate with a warm grin. "Sorry our session was interrupted but if you'd like we could always try again."

Another blush and a look of surprise graced Viper's light face that was quickly replaced with anger as she drew her gun to shoot the man but he was already out the door before she pulled the trigger.

* * *

Outside in the Jungle...

***"Well at least I got here in one piece."*** thought Marcus as he walked through the green scenery looking for the Hydra base. He managed to get the information from Lida and sneak away from the Institute with his shadow teleport. His resolve was set on taking down Damon once and for all this time and getting the others free and for that to happen he had to go it alone. If he destroyed Hydra in the process hey that's just an added bonus! Maybe Laura would stop being so mean to him if he did. Nothing makes a girl like you more than taking down her mortal enemies after all.

He stopped abruptly to regard that last thought with confusion plastered on his face. Not only did it sound ridiculous but to have Laura; yes that _Laura _actually like him?! Now that just plain insanity! ***"Are you so sure about that?"*** He shook his head to clear his mind of such questions. This kind of situation is important and he couldn't worry about how his adolescent mind was going to get him killed for thinking. He continued walking until he jumped into a tall tree and brushed a long branch out of his way to see his enemy's fortress.

The probably eight to ten foot tall metallic front gate was sealed shut and guarded by five soldiers with rifles most likely filled with Laura's drug darts. Seeing how alert they were and the lights flashing in certain areas with more guards in different postings they were expecting him to come. Oh he was gonna and he was going to unleash some hell. He jumped down from his position to land back into the forest where he closed his dark blue eyes to concentrate on the shadows in the area.

Feeling all that energy enveloping him he had one last thought, ***"Okay the others are in the far back in some sort of warehouse. Now I just have to bulldoze my way through this army, get them out of here, and finally pay Cross back for all the crap he's given me."*** After a little more time, Marcus's shadow armor was remade and he was ready to do some damage. With his own evil smirk he thought, ***"Let's rock."***

* * *

In Viper's control office...

The two masterminds behind all this pain and misery were silently waiting Damon's final performance to begin. Madame Viper was sitting in her comfortable chair while Damon chose to lean on the wall next to the large window behind her. Their eyes were focused on the large television screen that displayed all the security cameras in the base. If Marcus was going to try to surprise them he was going to have a slim chance of it.

Viper's eyes narrowed when she caught the front guard in the middle in a semi crouched position and decided to correct it. Pressing a few buttons on her control console she found his helmet frequency and yelled, "Number 260!" her shout caused the man to not only yelp but also become instantly alert. He stood up straight as Madame Viper continued, "I'm not paying you to slouch on the job! Do it again and you'll find yourself in the punishment area! Am I clear?!"

"Y-y-yes Madame Viper!!" he stuttered as he saluted her through the camera and went back to standing at attention. It still wasn't going well for him as the others saw fit to tease him about getting chewed out. "Whooo the boss let you have it. Man this will be good stuff to bring up later." said one of the soldiers on the far left side. The soldier felt so embarrassed he was about to let his head down when he remembered that the commander was still watching and stopped himself from doing so.

A few more minutes passed in silence another guard heard a faint noise coming from the jungle. "Hey do you hear that?" he asked the others and by their surprise they also heard something as well. The first soldier touched a button on his helmet to forward a message to Madame Viper.

"Excuse, Commander?" he waited for her to respond and when she did he gave her a status report, "We have an unknown sound coming from the forest. The target may have something to do with it. Should we investigate?" "No it's probably just a ruse to get you to leave your post. Stay put and keep and eye out." He was about to respond when the sound came back a little louder and he saw something approaching in the distance.

Viper noticed his hesitance in responding and chose to ask what was wrong but what she got was nothing as the soldier's was just frozen to his spot for several seconds before he opened and the other opened fire. Now surprised and intrigued Viper switched the controls so that the camera could get a lock on whatever her guards were firing at. What she saw was something definitely out the ordinary.

The object in question looked like a crimson motorcycle that was fully armored and going at a fast distance. She noted that all the darts and bullets were only getting sucked into the vehicle and it showed no signs of slowing down. In fact it looked like it was speeding up! Realization and fear arose from the commander as she stood up from her seat and asked, "Is he going to-"

"Ya gotta admit," Damon cut her off, "the kid knows how to make an entrance." Then a loud explosion erupted at the front gate that told all the soldiers to prepare for war.

Ch.9 end

Now with that recap of what happened, some verbal exchanges from a few key characters, and the promise of an all out battle with Hydra, this chapter is done. You all probably thought there would be more dialogue for when Laura and Damon talked but hey it is what it is.

Next time the true battle begins as Marcus fights his way through Hydra to find his friends but what he uncovers will definitely change a lot of things as Damon's true purpose is revealed. More battles and revelations to follow next time.

Unfortunately due to some technical problems with my computer a few files were lost so I have to start from scratch. Sorry about that. Oh yeah and if you haven't noticed there will be about two or three more chapters then this story will be wrapped up.

AJ Katon out.


	10. Chapter 10

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch.10 Storming Hydra PT.1

Marcus steadied himself on his shadow bike and prepared to make the leap of his life. The steel wall came into view with the five speechless guards standing in place in shock and Marcus knew it was time to act. ***"Knock, knock. Cross."*** he thought as he came closer and closer until-

_**Crash!!!**_

The shadow bender had jumped off the bike just as it was about to hit the wall and the soldiers had scrambled away to safety. The crimson vehicle smashed into the reinforced wall with so much speed that the explosion that came was so large that it stretched almost to the top of the front door. Luckily it didn't reach that far as Marcus managed to jump even higher that the fiery aftershock didn't catch up to him and he made it over the wall.

While floating in mid-air for a few seconds the fifteen year old mutant scanned what little of the base that he could see. The base was large that, as expected, and the inner structure was that of a military setting. A few barracks for the troops in the front, a few weapon's tents on both sides of the walls, and several vehicles on display loaded with missiles most likely. What caught his eye the most were the troops lining up in front of his descending spot and the large command center they were standing in front of.

***"Well that's where Cross and the Viper lady are,"*** Marcus thought with an obvious tone. ***"but where is that warehouse?"*** He couldn't think on it anymore as he felt gravity working again and he dropped back to the Earth. Right in front of the guy's with guns. Great.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the Hydra infantrymen opened fire. Quickly though Marcus conjured a shadow barrier and it absorbed the barrage of life threatening weapons into the dark mass. Soon the bullets stopped coming as the soldiers tried to reload before their enemy could counterattack. Unfortunately the black haired boy had launched himself through the dark shield and came face to face with the first soldier he would take down.

After relieving the man of his gun by jump kicking it out his hands, the shadow bender followed up with another mid-air kick to Hydra worker's face, sending him far from the battle field. Three more turned up behind Marcus ready to fire but by spinning on his heel he turned to them and shot a shadow wave. The use of energy caused a bit of his armor on his upper torso to fade but it made quick work on the three soldiers and a few more that were behind them.

Next up were only five more attackers that were dealt away with ease. Marcus merely used a martial arts combo Gen had showed him and practically threw the infantrymen at each other. Once they were done with the midnight blue irised mutant stopped his tracks and got down on one knee. After placing his hand on the ground he concentrated for a few seconds to send a bit of his mutant ability threw the shadows of the night.

Concentrating even more he pictured a dark tunnel in his mind and made his shadow energy travel through it in order to scan thee complex. He hit one part of his search when he felt felt two shadows on the top floor. ***"Viper and Cross."*** Ignoring his hatred for them he continued to probe further into the base. He managed to pick up multiple shadows underground behind the building in front of him.

***"Found em."*** _**Blam!!**_ Marcus ducked to his left and dodged the bullet coming at him. He kept moving as more and more shots were taken until he turned on his heel and formed another barrier. The shadow bender held up his only defense for a minute until the gunfire ceased. After dispelling the dark shield he looked straight ahead and found out who he had to fight next.

The next set of Hydra guards stood in front of the main building in five groups of six, guns cocked and faced at the young mutant. At the front were the two head operatives of Hydra: Gauntlet sporting two large pistols with a sadistic smile on his face and Omega Red with four of his carbondium tentacles released from his fist with a disgruntled look on his cybernetic face.

"Well boy," Gauntlet began holding his main weapons at his sides. "you've done well in making it this far. I can see why X23 favors you."

"But tell me..." The mercenary raised his guns up to Marcus's eye level. "... how long do you think you can keep us from getting her?"

Marcus didn't respond to the Hydra worker's question with words. He raised his arm out to his side and used more of his shadow armor to call up the shadow blade. Placing the sword in his right hand the spiky black haired teenager assumed a sword stance and met the glares of the weapon organization's top members with his own hard glare.

After a moment of silence he said, "Like this." and he charged for the opposition.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Madame Viper watched the battle unfold from her video screen in her main office. Her eyes danced around the screen as she saw how agile and easily Marcus dealt with her forces and to say that she was only amazed would be an understatement. She was both astounded and frustrated. Wouldn't you be if some teenager came in and began beating on your hired help and winning as well?

Damon on the other hand was having a ball watching the shadow bender take down so many soldiers while not taking in too much damage himself. Marcus had become exactly what Cross had hoped he'd become. A powerful mutant and a very capable soldier.

***"Hmph and why wouldn't he be?"*** thought the manipulative man as a smirk formed on his brown face. ***"If it hadn't been for me I doubt he would have come this far even with training. It's all thanks to my work that he has acquired his power."*** Damon looked up to the fluorescent lighted ceiling as his thoughts began to drift off and he began to remember the past. A past filled with hope, new beginnings, and most of all an old friend he cared so much for. ***"Isn't that right, Carter?"***

* * *

_Eighteen years ago..._

"_So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about Damon? It's not like you to pop up out of the blue like this." asked a twenty two year old man as he took a seat. He was light skinned man with short black hair and ocean blue eyes. His height stood at 5'11 and he was dressed in all black business suit with a red tie. Although he was glad to see his old friend he was confused about a few things; namely this surprise summons to a military facility._

_Damon Cross sat in the desk in front of him in white business attire with a smile on his face. He has not spoken to his friend since their college graduation two years ago and it felt good to see an old face. He extended a gloved hand to black haired adult in front of him and said, "Well Carter, I just felt like seeing an old friend."_

_Carter Stanford took the handshake and replied with a smirk, "Now come on Damon. We both know that you want me here to ask a few things. It's not like you to call on somebody to just come over for a visit without a hidden motive." The white maned military man chuckled, "Hahaha. Yeah you're right that is like me. But I think we can hold out on the questions a bit." Damon stood up and gestured to the window behind him. "Join for a drink outside?"_

_An hour later..._

_Both men were enjoying their wine out on the balcony of Cross's military institution out on a deserted island. The base itself was significantly equipped with trustworthy personnel and the latest weaponry known to man. Of course there were a select few that were known to Cross himself since he developed them on his own. Although he wasn't mutant he was doing pretty well on his own._

_Carter leaned his back to the wall and felt calm as his cool strawberry wine went down his throat. It tasted sweet and refreshing which was to be expected seeing that his older college pal would always mold things to the best of their ability. He had an affinity for drawing out the best in people. *__**"I can see why he decided to join the military."**__*_

_The black haired man turned away from his thoughts and looked forward to see Cross leaning over the safety railing twirling his wine glass in his right hand. He looked to be deep in thought over something which wasn't exactly bad but it left a strange air of uncomfortable silence around them. Carter soon felt weird in this quiet and opted to say something but Damon beat him to hit._

"_So tell me Carter," he began as he turned around to regard his colleague while leaning his back on the railing. "how's life been going? Found any good work?" A smile formed on the Stanford man's face as he replied. "Not yet but I've still got offers. I've still got my bachelor's in genetics so it won't be long now." The smile soon turned into a sad distant look as he continued. "I just wish that whoever hires me isn't another zealot with a mutant problem."_

"_Ah yes, that's what all the rage is about these days. Everyone just wants to talk about mutants, mutants, mutants." "Damon chimed in with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He didn't mutants as much of a threat as other military men did so whenever he learned that one of his weapon's buyers wanted him to solve the so called 'mutant problem' he would immediately turn down any offers from them and never do business with them again. _

_Damon believed that were some mutants that should be watched over carefully but that didn't mean that they were all evil. They were just like regular people that could be either good or evil and should not be persecuted over things like having powers. He personally felt that their abilities were gifts and felt a little envious that he was not able to be like them. He felt like having a mutant ability would be the pinnacle of his ambition to be at the highest of his potential. How great that would be if only he had the mutant gene!_

"_Yes I understand what you mean." Carter decided to say breaking Damon's chain of thought. "Everyone keeps trying to get me and others to come up with so called cures for the mutant problem no matter how many times we tell them. You can't fix what's not broken. The mutant gene is not a sickness or a bad thing. If people would just get that through their heads I could be doing what my job entitles. I could be cracking the genetic code, finding cures to real diseases, heck I could probably even find a way to copy the mutant gene and give it other people if I had the resources!"_

_An astonished look flashed on Damon Cross's face at the sudden revelation. Could it be possible? Can Carter actually do such a thing and copy the fabled x-gene and give it to other people? Maybe someone like Cross himself? The possibility sounded too great to the white haired man and he felt an even greater lift at the thought of having his friend Carter do it. He knew that there was great potential in the man and with the right time and help he might just be able to do the impossible._

"_Well..." the chestnut irised twenty two year old started before taking another sip of his drink. "...if only things were like that but as long as paranoid men lead the big jobs out there I guess I'll never get the chance to make real use of my skills."_

"_Oh I wouldn't say that Carter." Damon announced elicited a confused look from the black haired geneticist. An all knowing smirk appeared on the man's face as he went on. "Not all the big corporate heads are against the mutant populace and some may even be in the market for a good geneticist. I myself am currently looking some applications for genetic technology and all I need now is a good team behind it."_

_The teal eyed smooth talker turned his gaze over to the side as he continued to twirl his drink before taking a sip of it. He allowed all of what he just said to slowly register his friend's mind until he could deliver the clincher. And when the look of surprise flashed in Carter's eyes Damon moved on for the kill with a smirk and asked, "Tell me Carter do you know where I can find a geneticist fresh from college and ready to work?"_

_Cross got an unexpected reply in the form of Carter Stanford running for him and giving him a firm hug. The white haired man was immediately baffled by the show of emotion that he couldn't say anything mostly due to being squeezed so much and he almost spilled his drink. After a minute Carter put the businessman down and exclaimed. "Damon you are a life saver man!! Thanks you so much! I-I-I don't know how to even thank you!"_

_Damon didn't say anything as he took the time to fix up his suit. With that done, he eyed the younger adult with an annoyed look and replied. "For starters Carter, don't hug me again. It weirds me out." An embarrassed look washed over the black haired geneticist's face that made him look to the side before refilling his glass in a sheepish fashion. After taking a rather generous sip he said. "Sorry about that. Just a bit emotional is all."_

_Taking a deep sigh, Damon twirled his glass as he answered. "Yeah just forget about it." He took one last drink before his smirk reappeared and asked. "So you'll take the job?" "Ya damn right I will." was Carter's reply before continuing. "Really Damon thanks. I owe you for this."_

"_You can repay me by doing your best." Damon let out a small chuckle as he joked. "And also find a wife so that I don't catch you hugging the other personnel okay?" The small joke elicited a blush and stutter from Carter as he tried to form a rebuttal but unfortunately he couldn't find the right words.

* * *

_

"Cross!" Damon was brought out of his reminiscing by Madame viper's voice. "Will you stop daydreaming and get your ass in gear?!" The white haired businessman turned away from her to regard the security feed.

He saw Marcus with even less of his shadow armor on holding two shadow swords. The shadow bender was cutting through the Hydra troops with exceptional skill while dodging multiple gunshots and the whips of Omega Red. From the looks of it he was holding his own but if he takes too longhe won't last long.

A devious smirk formed on Cross's face as he removed himself from the wall and made his way to the door. "Well Madame," he said looking at her from over his shoulder, "I believe its time for me to make the final set-up. Please sit down and enjoy the show." With that said Damon exited the room and Madame Viper took a seat in her chair resting a gun her in lap just in case. She turned her attention back to the screen and waited for whatever Cross has planned to unfold.

* * *

Back to Marcus...

Things were going either way for the shadow bender as he continued to fight through the Hydra soldiers that seemed to just keep coming. Although he was making quick work of the foot soldiers he still had to contend with the two maniacs who kept attacking him any chance they got. To say the odds were not looking so well was an understatement.

And it only got worse as Marcus faced Omega and Gauntlet and one soldier just had to become brave and throw a grenade at the three fighters. They looked at the small explosive weapon with shocked looks before jumping in any direction to escape the blast. They also inwardly cursed the man who threw that bomb.

The explosion that came caught everyone off guard and all were sent in flying in different

directions. Marcus managed to catch himself and land safely on his feet in a crouched manner while Gauntlet and Omega Red were knocked into walls and knocked out. Marcus looked around to see that there were no more troops coming at him and figured that that was all they had for the top level. The others would be here soon so he took this time to escape.

Seeing the main station in front of him he opted to go around to get to the warehouse. It took him a few minutes to get there on foot and when he did he stopped a few feet short of the door when he saw the sentries stationed outside. ***"Why are they still there? Didn't they hear all that crap that went down earlier."*** thought Marcus as he placed his hand on the ground and used the shadows again to see who the soldiers were. He mentally cursed when he found out that these troops were under Cross's payroll.

***"Makes sense that Cross would send his people to watch the guys."*** Marcus stood up from his spot and decided a more sneaky approach was needed this time. Closing his eyes the raven haired teenager concentrated on the shadows of the two sentries and made it so that four dark tentacles sprouted from them. The new weapons immediately went for the soldiers by wrapping around them and slamming them to the ground. They were unconscious instantly and Marcus sent them away by flinging them to the other side of the island.

Since there proved to be no other soldiers around Marcus could tell that this was a trap but if he didn't do anything something worse might happen. So he went for the quick choice and ran to the warehouse.

* * *

Elsewhere...

Teresa and Tamara had just woken up from their long sleep and instantly knew that they were in trouble. Their feet were bound in super strong chains,their clothing was dirty and slightly torn, and from how dark the room was they judged that they were in the prison cells. Damon had found out about their plan and ambushed them. Now the two girls were separated from their only friends and left to rot in a prison.

"Can you get us out of here?" Teresa asked the pink haired girl hoping that her answer was a yes. Unfortunately when Tamara tried to pry through the steel chains she found that her arms had barely any strength left in them. She tried at least three more times until she threw the binds on the floor and shook her head.

"It's no good. It's like I don't have my ability anymore. I feel... drained." Her answer brought some fear to the ten year old's face and so with no other way she tried to pry them free herself but to her own dismay her arms couldn't match up to the strong grips either. After another two minutes of trying the brown haired girl finally gave up and sat down on her butt in defeat.

She curled up into a little ball and started to cry a bit over... well everything. She and her friends were captured, her mother and father were still in captivity somewhere, and her sister had disappeared. She felt alone and defeated as Damon's smug look came to her mind and curled up into a ball even more.

"We're going to die aren't we?" Her question made Tamara's eyes widen in surprise and make a down trodden look come across her dirtied face. Seeing her little friend in such a way caused the used to be strong girl's maternal instincts to kick in so she got up and wrapped the little girl in a tight reassuring hug. Teresa was quite surprised to see the pink haired mutant girl do such a thing but gradually accepted the hug. Both sat there in silence as Tamara tried to calm the girl done well enough so that she would feel a bit better.

After a few minutes the cell was quiet once again and the two girls sat in silence. Tamara didn't want whatever hope Teresa had to be extinguished like this so she opted for an idea. Turning her head towards the younger mutant the pink haired teenager put on a smile and said. "You know we still have one last ace up our sleeve."

Her words got a confused reaction from the illusionist and when she whipped her head around to look at her cell mate for confirmation. "Yep," Tamara quipped raising a finger in the air in an all knowing way. "we've still got our two guys out there just coming to save us. Marcus and Gen will be here."

The super strength mutant's words had a negative effect however as Teresa's hopeful smile returned to a melancholic frown. The illusionist went back to her fetal position and retorted. "Not if Cross has already decided to get them. Marcus and Gen are just two guys against him while there was more of us and we still lost. There's no way they can win."

Now those words had the effect desired since Tamara's mood shifted to hopeful to sad as well. She let her pointed finger fall to the dirt as the depressed feeling worked its way back into her but instantly perked up, determined not to lose hope. She remade her smile but it wasn't as convincing as the first and said. "Oh come on. It's Marcus and Gen we're talking about. Those two can handle anything." "Even an army?" asked Teresa her voice lacking any enthusiasm. "Even an army. I wouldn't surprised if those two are already here to rescue us."

_**CRASH!! **_

The conversation was interrupted by the loud sounds coming from above them. The sounds got louder and louder with each passing minute until it reached the floor their cell was on. Some mild yelling and scuffling were heard until silence came again. Now all they heard were footsteps that came close to their door until they paused.

***"Could it be? Is it?"*** thought Tamara as she instinctively moved young Teresa behind her just in case it wasn't who she hoped it was. Her strength hadn't fully returned to her but she was prepared to put up a fight if necessary. She heard a strange sound coming from the other side and a second later something hit the control panel for the security lock since she heard the sound of something mechanical getting fried. The door busted open with a start and the two girls closed their eyes in fear of what may happen next.

"What? No hug?" The voice Tamara heard was one she and Teresa knew anywhere and when they opened their eyes the hope they had was confirmed. Marcus stood before them with his trademark aloof smile while his clothing was slightly different since his upper have was a black T-shirt while his pants and further down were that of his shadow armor. His face was also dirtied a bit and the clothing in question had a few cuts on them which was quite strange considering the large battle he just fought.

Nevertheless, the girls were happy to see him. "Marcus!!" they both exclaimed as their faces lit up in joy and they rushed to glomp him. Unfortunately their attempt was stopped by the fact that their feet were still chained to the wall and they fell face forward to the ground. Marcus's teal eyes expanded in shock as he rushed to his friends to see if they were all right. The two girls looked up at him with embarrassed grins and immediately pulled him into a hug.

"We thought we'd never see you again." Tamara said holding onto the boy as if he was a life preserver. She let go of him and looked him in the eye to ask, "Are the others-"

"I just got here so Phoebe and John are most likely still in their cells. Gen and Lida are back at the mutant institution and are safe and sound." His news brought relief to their faces and they let go of the both so that he could free them. After shooting two shadow balls at their chain links, the girls were free but he had to help Tamara to her feet and out the door.

He rested her next to the wall next to the elevator and began freeing the others. He managed to find both Phoebe and John,but John was still half dazed from being drugged like Tamara so that he couldn't use his power. It would be awhile before he was up and running in top form. Marcus also managed to find Lida and Teresa's parents as well as John's girlfriend and Phoebe's little brother. Marcus saw the heartfelt reunions of the families and inwardly began to feel sad himself knowing that his mother was already gone. First his old man disappeared and now his mother had been taken away. Now all the family he had left was his brother and he was in the last room.

Marcus slowly walked over to the last room and stood before it. This was the second time in his life that he could feel his fear overcome his natural sense. The first time was the fateful night when he saw that robber point a gun at his mom all those years ago. However the difference was that he was able to protect her that time and she lived to smile at him and his brother. But now she was gone, her life taken by one man, and now Marcus had to look into the eyes of his younger brother and take responsibility for not being there to protect them.

This was going to be a tough one and frankly Marcus just wanted it to be over quickly. He turned around to see the others give him looks of warmth. Phoebe however gave him the look of a stern teacher telling him to get moving and face the music. He inwardly whined when he knew she was telling him the right thing to do. Couldn't she at least offer him some sort of sympathy?!

Taking a deep breath Marcus built up his courage and shot another shadow wave at the security box. The door didn't swing open as the others did so now the black haired mutant took his sweet time as he placed his tan hand on the door and pushed it open. When he looked inside what he saw was something he'd never thought he see again.

There lay his younger brother, Jacob Stanford, in clothing that was different from the day he disappeared. He was now clothed in a blue T-shirt with short black sleeves and brown shorts. The boy was sound asleep and he was definitely dirty judging from the dark spots on his face and clothing. But what really caught his eye was the form of the other person laying under the boy in a sitting position.

The other prisoner was a woman who looked to be in her late twenties. Her face was hidden in the shadows but he could tell from her light breaths that she was sleeping as well. She was dressed in light yellow short sleeved shirt, navy blue knee length skirt, and white heels.

Marcus slowly walked towards the sleeping duo in high expectations but still had the powerful urge to stifle himself. His mind was telling him that it couldn't be who he thought it was but his heart didn't want to give up hope. He came closer and closer until he stood over them and knelt down to place a hand on the woman's face. She awoke with a start and when she turned her head to see Marcus blue eyes met black eyes. Diane Stanford found herself staring into the face of her eldest and instinctively placed a hand on her mouth with a gasp.

"Mom?" he asked still very unsure of things. "It's me, Marcus." The woman didn't respond at first and instead placed a hand on the shadow bender's cheek. The moment she did the blond woman's face lit up again as another gasp escaped her. This time her squeak was so loud that it finally woke Jacob from his sleep.

The shorter Stanford boy squirmed on his mother's lap until he sat up to smack his lips and rub the sleep out of his eye. He stopped and looked forward to see Marcus crouched before him with their mom's hand on his face. The blond haired boy squinted his eyes to get a good look at the teenager.

"Marcus?" Jacob asked as he stood up from his position. After looking directly at him for a few more seconds the eleven year old smiled brightly and quickly latched onto his brother. "It is you! Its great to see you Marcus! What took you so long to get here?" "Hehe well I ran into some trouble before I got here. Sorry for taking so long." the shadow bender replied sheepishly while rubbing the younger kid's head.

Diane saw all of this unfold and now had no doubts that the one in front of her was her eldest son. He did seem a bit different from the last time she saw him but that was some years ago. That's when the pain she kept inside it her chest. She hadn't seen Marcus in nearly five years and she and Jacob had been prisoners for that long by the one man she would have never expected to do this. It did well to send her into a small state of disbelief that she pulled herself out of when she reminded herself one thing: her boys were right here in front of her.

She immediately pulled them both into a tight hug and let her concealed tears wash down her cheeks. Marcus and Jacob decided to keep quiet during this moment and just embrace Diane back until she managed to finally calm down a few minutes later. Now that the moment had passed Marcus went to work to get rid of the chains and lead his family outside to the others.

Once they were all together Marcus gathered with Tamara, Phoebe, John, and Diane to discuss what the next plan was. "So now that we have everyone how do we get out of here? Damon's probably got himself mobilized out there and we don't have any strength to fight back with." Phoebe said as she stood next to Diane who sat next to her son.

"Don't worry about that. I've got you guys covered." Marcus said much to Diane's dismay. "No. I forbid you to do anything else life threatening." she said in a mother like tone but the shadow bender had to disobey her. "Mom I'm the only on who has power at the moment so I've gotta protect everyone." "There has to be another way." "There isn't." "But-" "Mom," the black haired boy interrupted. "Don't worry I've got this."

His words weren't that reassuring but Diane saw that he was needed in order for these people to get out alive so she relented. After taking a short break Marcus managed to replenish his shadow armor and Phoebe, Tamara, and even Teresa managed to recover some of their abilities. It wasn't the fullest of what they could use but it would have to do. John unfortunately couldn't use his power due to the drug still running its course but he could walk and run a bit.

Once that was squared away Marcus and team went over the escape plan with the other captives and immediately led them up the stairway. They didn't have much time before Damon would mount a counterattack. Unfortunately their guess was correct when they reached the last flight of stairs and opened the door. On the other side was the white haired manipulative devil known as Damon Cross.

Cross stood on the other side of the escapees blocking their exit with his usual evil grin and hands placed behind his back. He looked as dangerous as the day the others came onto his side and from the looks of things he probably had something up his sleeve yet again. Marcus and his mutant team instinctively stood at the front ready for anything their enemy had to throw at them. But they would soon learn that they had no idea what awaited them.

"Ah Marcus its good to see you again." Damon said. "And you've managed to reunited your friends with their families and even your own family. Not bad at all." Marcus only reply was to make his shadow blade again and assume a stance. Phoebe and Tamara did the same and assumed fighting stances with their abilities at the ready. Their show of valor did little but amuse Damon and to retort he said. "Oh what's the matter? Are you that angry with me?"

"Well lets see..." Marcus began as he felt his rage slowly come back to him. "...you kidnapped our families, imprisoned my friends, and made me believe my mom was dead." The fifteen year old mutant tightened his grip on his weapon before adding in a sarcastic tone, "Now why would we be angry with you?"

"Ah good points all of it but it does raise one question though." Cross said as he raised one finger into the air. Then all of a sudden his evil grin disappeared as a stoic yet serious look donned his tan face as he finished, "so what are you going to do about it?"

"This!" Marcus was the first to leap at Damon with the intent to kill and Phoebe and Tamara came next. Damon's arms moved behind his back. A second later the trio of mutants unleashed their strongest attack with Marcus shooting a shadow ball, Phoebe releasing a lightning bolt, and Tamara taking a large piece of the earth under her and throwing it. Their triple attack seemed deadly and from the way it hit its target the end of Damon Cross seemed definite. So when the smoke cleared and Damon was clearly alive and not harmed in any way it was safe to say they were shocked.

The three mutants let their mouth hang open as they saw the form before them. Cross was still standing before them, the serious yet emotionless look still present on his face and his white coat appeared unharmed and normal considering what happened. The captives behind them were equally as stumped by the evil man's strange immunity and felt something was wrong. Especially Diane and Teresa.

"What?" the white haired military man asked with a smug smirk. "Is that all you have? I was hoping for something big since you are trying to save your friends." His cocky demeanor sent more anger through Marcus as he geared up for another burst. "But I guess that was all talk. So are you ready to give up?" "Like hell!" The shadow bender yelled as he raised his sword and charged for Damon. When he was a few feet away from his enemy Marcus jumped into the air and slashed a dark wave at the calm manipulator. The shadow attack struck the man and it looked like the attack worked as a large dust cloud formed around the strike point.

Marcus came back to the ground and began panting a lot as his shadow armor fizzled away again. Now he was running on half of his original strength but he brushed off his fatigue as he saw the smoke clear from the spot where he hit Damon. His mind just couldn't process why this was happening. Once again the evil man known as Cross stood in his same spot, completely unharmed.

"My turn." Damon snapped his fingers and as if they were hiding all this time Hydra and Damon soldiers alike appeared on the upper levels of the warehouse encircling the small group. And they were armed to the teeth with guns.

***"Something isn't right."*** thought Teresa as her hazel eyes darted from the group of troops above her to the people in front of her. She could feel that there was something in this picture that just wasn't supposed to be here. ***"Could it be that-"***

"Marcus!" Tamara yelled to get the boy's attention. "We must leave!" Marcus nodded to her suggestion and was about to just that when it happened. "Fire." At the manipulative man's command the soldiers opened fire at one point. Marcus himself. Naturally he made another shield around himself and the others as the bullets came raining down on them.

The barrage lasted for a full two minutes and Marcus dropped the barrier. His armor was now down to just his pants and boots and he knew that he would need the rest to escape. This had to end quickly before it-

_**Blam!!**_

The shot was never expected and when it came it was natural that a few shocked shrieks were heard. Marcus fell forward as he felt the pain in his leg but he managed to catch himself before his face was planted on the ground. He looked behind himself to see Damon brandishing a handgun but was afraid of what he might do next. His fear was confirmed when he saw where Damon was pointing the gun.

"Damon don't you dare!" Marcus shouted but it was already too late.

Damon gave the order to fire again and this time Marcus couldn't stop it. The rain of bullets roared in the warehouse as the shadow bender watched as all the people he came to help get shot down. When the last of the rounds were fired the shadow bender slowly got up and saw the devastation before him. This was a lot worse than a simple implication by Cross that someone he cared about was dead. This was a hell of a lot worse.

His physical pain worsened when he felt another gunshot to his other leg. He fell to his knees again but this time he didn't get back up as despair began to fill his soul. The fifteen year old felt defeated and this time he thought he couldn't get back up again. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming towards him and his rage came back as saw that it was Damon coming towards him with that same cocky smile on his evil face.

"Like I asked Marcus," The white haired adult said as he raised the gun to the beaten teenager's forehead. "...what are you going to do now?" The shadow bender clenched his hands as he felt himself get pushed back into the same mood as that time at the mall. His tan fists began to glow crimson red as he channeled what he had left of his ability into one final blast. He was going to reserve it all for the escape plan but after everything that happened he felt Damon deserved it more.

"I'M GOING TO DO THIS!" Marcus held as he drew his fists back and-

"_Marcus don't do it!"_ The shadow mutant stopped as heard Teresa's voice echo through his head. He whipped his head in different directions to see where the voice was coming from since he was pretty sure that the little girl got caught in the crossfire a second ago. He shrugged it off before he let go of all the concentrated energy in his hands and returned his attention back to what was in front of him. His greatest enemy with a loaded gun.

"What? Finally ready to surrender?" Damon egged him on. The Stanford boy decided that the best answer was an up close and big shadow wave to the older man's face. He rose up and positioned himself to deliver the attack when-"

"_Marcus! Please don't do it!"_ Again the ten year old girl's voice shouted for him to stop his attack and it was quite louder this time. Almost as if she was standing right next to him. "Teresa?" Marcus questioned the air around him wondering if he had finally lost it. He was slightly relieved when he heard her voice again. That meant he was still all right and not on the net stop to crazy town.

"_Marcus! It's all a trick! Snap out of it!"_ Her words made the shadow bender quirk an eyebrow in confusion, doing so allowed his gathered up energy to finally be released back into his barely made shadow armor. "So you've finally made the choice have you?" the manipulator known as Damon Cross asked as he leveled the gun to Marcus's forehead that was a little bloody from the scuffle earlier.

Marcus for his part only kept silent as he stared back into the same teal eyes of the white haired military businessman before him. He no longer had any idea about was going on anymore but he was sure of one thing. Something was seriously wrong here and Teresa was trying to send him a message. With all these things in mind his response to the gun wielder was, "Yeah and I'm done fighting you Cross."

"Wrong decision, kid." Damon took aim and fired at the boy who only stood still as the bullet came for him. And at that point...it past right through him. It only felt like a small wind had hit his brow and did the only thing he could do. He blinked in confusion and asked, "What?"

"_I SAID STOP IT!!"_

Suddenly the bloody arena of a warehouse began to shake like it was being rocked by a hurricane. Marcus strangely didn't feel the effects of the natural disaster and only stood in silence as the world seemed to be breaking around him. This was right way to describe it as the whole area seemed to break away like a baseball hitting glass. Now Marcus was alone in a zone of white and pure nothingness. He was on the verge of panicking until a bright light flashed before him and for who knows how long everything was quiet. Then-

"Marcus!" He heard the ten year old mutant's cry for him and when he opened his eyes he was hit by an unexpected sight. The hostages that he had just rescued along with Teresa, Jacob, and his mother were all alive if not just a bit scared. He looked to his side to see Phoebe and Tamara in similar states as he was and quickly felt glad that they were still alive. That feeling shrunk when he realized that if they were still here then that would mean- The shadow bender inwardly cursed when he heard Damon chuckle behind him.

"So young Teresa you've managed to set them free? Unexpected but extraordinary." Damon complimented. The three fighters didn't understand what was going on until Teresa decided to clarify it for them while sitting down from using her power so much. "I don't understand it either but somehow Mr. Damon managed to trap you guys in an illusion."

Her statement made everyone confused but it was Phoebe who decided to voice her feelings. "But how could he do that? Damon is not a mutant! I'm sure of it!" "Well all I know is that he managed to conjure the illusion and I was able to disable it. I don't know how he did it but he's the only other person here that would pull something like that."

Marcus turned his gaze back to the now mysterious man to study him for anything he may have that could set off an illusion. It was then that he finally noticed something. "What's behind your back Cross?" "Oh do you mean..." the man paused as he raised his left hand and say, "....this?" The object in question was a small and circular device with a moving pad on the front along two red and green circular streaks. Marcus didn't understand but when he heard Phoebe gasp behind him he realized that it was definitely important.

"Phoebe what's wrong?" "It's that machine." she said through clenched teeth. "He used it against me when we tried to escape last time. It absorbed my ability and used it to strike me down." Her explanation cleared up the missing puzzle Marcus needed but Damon felt the need to deliver more to it.

"You are correct, Phoebe. This device can absorb and deal back any mutant ability it comes into contact with. Though I prefer projectile abilities who knows when I may need Tamara's super strength." He took a second to remake his evil facial expression as he held the device in his palm and added. "And it's all thanks to Carter."

A gasp resonated throughout the warehouse and the fighting mutants were stunned to find out that it came from Marcus mom. Diane's black eyes were bugged out and her hands were on her mouth as Damon's announcement echoed in her mind. _"It's all thanks to Carter." _There was only one person she knew who could make something like that and have that name. Carter Stanford. Her husband and Marcus and Jacob's father.

"No it can't be true." she said as she stood up from her spot and had her left hand on her right arm. "There's no way Carter would help someone like you." "She's right Damon." Marcus chimed in. "Even if I didn't know my old man why would he give you something like that?"

The white haired businessman chuckled as he replied, "You would be right. Carter wouldn't have built this..." He paused yet again to enhance the suspense of his words. "That is if he knew about how I planned to use it. If he were still alive." Those words made Marcus's blood boil. If Damon was implying what the shadow bender thought he was then Marcus was seriously going to kill him. "Damon...you-" "No." Cross cut him off with a serious face before he could go any further. "I didn't kill Carter. Nor do I know where he is at the moment." The tone of his voice led Marcus to take what the man said as the truth and he settled down a bit.

"Well not that that really matters now. It's time to claim what I've sought after for fifteen years." Damon proclaimed as he thumbed the moving pad of his device. He felt a wave of power rush through him as he pressed a button and a second later he shifted to a military fighting stance ready for combat. Marcus took the time to use even more shadows to power up his fists and feet while the lightning crackled around Phoebe and Tamara got herself ready to fight as well.

Cross made the first move and as if he had super speed he closed the distance between himself and Tamara first. The pink haired woman flinched from him but shook off her fear to give him a left hook to the face but he dodged thanks to his new ability and countered with a combo that went unseen by the others and ended it with a palm to her gut. The young woman fell to the ground in an instant and when she tried to get back up Damon switched the devices power from super speed to strength and kicked Tamara in the back, not hard enough to kill her but enough to keep her down.

He was about to strike again when he saw a blue flash out of the corner of his eye and jumped away from his first prey. The lightning hit the wall but Phoebe didn't relent in her attack. She sent more lightning bolts at the hope of nailing Damon but the man proved to be a lot more agile than they thought.

Damon smirked as he continued to move around the attacks and felt like this was going to be easier than he thought. That was until Marcus managed to come up behind him and jump kick him in the back. The manipulator staggered back as he felt the shadow bender's dark kick for the first time. It felt very painful.

Before Damon could attack again Phoebe launched another bolt and this time it hit him right in the back, burning his jacket in the process. Now Marcus and Phoebe saw their chance and charged in for one final attack. Unfortunately Damon switched powers again and teleported from the two attackers. Marcus and Phoebe stopped themselves from colliding into each other and looked around for any sign of Damon before he could do anything else. They were too late.

It was the green haired Phoebe who saw the lightning attack coming from behind Marcus and moved to act. She pushed him out of the way and tried to counter the blast with her own but Damon's attack had a lot more power to it since Phoebe was still fighting through the drugs put into her system. The elemental blast struck the seventeen year old hard and knocked her into a wall. She collapsed to the ground close to where the others sat, still conscious but very weak. Marcus was ready to retaliate but to his surprise Damon was in a fighting pose. He looked completely relaxed....what the heck?

"Well that is enough for today. Good show Marcus, Phoebe, Tamara although I was hoping to see a bit more effort on Tamara's part but she is drugged." The cryptic and confusing man shrugged shoulders at those words. "Ah what ya gonna do?" "Damon what the hell are you talking about?" Marcus asked in a state of confusion but still in a battle stance. "It's like I said already, 'That's enough for today' as in I'm done fighting and its my victory."

"Its not your victory." the shadow user retorted in anger. "We've still got energy to fight." The man began laughing at the young Stanford's refusal to back down and when he was done he said, "I have no doubt about your ability to fight...but what about your ability to escape?" That last part took a few seconds to register in Marcus's mind and by the time he understood he tried to think of a way to counter but once again Damon was a step ahead.

In a flash the second floor of the warehouse was flooded with Hydra gunmen and Damon's own soldiers all wielding stun guns that were fully charged and ready to fire. It looked exactly like the illusion Marcus had just went through but he could tell that-

"This time its very real young Marcus." Damon chimed in as if reading the boy's mind. "Main rule of battle is to defeat your opponent by any means. Whether by strength, stamina, or...by buying time to get your strongest asset." Marcus scanned the whole room and after seeing the position he and the others were in he came to one conclusion: they could not win.

When Damon saw the look of hope leaving the teenager he looked up and commanded. "Prepare to shoot them all down on my order. Leave no one conscious." At those words two things happened. First the soldiers positioned themselves to shoot and Marcus decided on one last ditch move. He raised his hand to the prisoners and the other mutants and utilizing the last of his strength he created a shadow teleportation portal.

The others began flinching in terror and what was happening while Phoebe and Teresa were the only ones who knew what was going one began shouting Marcus. "Marcus what are you doing?!" they both yelled at the same time as the shadow bender ran to the hurt form of Tamara. He lifted the girl in his arms and said, "Getting you all out of here like I promised." before throwing the super strong girl into the vortex and having John catch her.

"Marcus hurry up the things closing!!" The temporarily powerless teleporter yelled. But once again something got in the way. "Fire!!" Damon's command roared throughout the place as the soldiers complied and began shooting at the teenager. Unfortunately Marcus was all out of energy from making the large portal for the others and had nothing to defend himself with as the tasers all came at him. He screamed in agony as he felt the painful electricity run throughout his body for a few seconds before he fell to his knees.

Diane watched in horror at everything being done to her boy and tried to run out of the portal to help him but the others held her back. "Let me go! We have to help him! We can't leave him!!" "We don't have a choice Ms. Stanford!" yelled Teresa has she held on to the older woman's waist. "We don't have any strength to do anything! We'd only get everyone else captured!" "But we can't leave him behind! I just got him back!! Don't take him away from me again!"

"Mom." Jacob chimed in as he held back one of her arms. The woman was still reaching for her other son that was very far from her as the vortex began to close around her but she still listened to her other boy. "I know its hard to accept but there's nothing we can do right now. We can save Marcus but just now. We need help." "How can you say that?!" Diane retorted sounded more shocked than angry. "He's your-"

"He's my brother that I haven't seen in a long time that came here to rescue us despite everything Mr. Damon has. He's fought his way here and we managed to see each other because he never gave up. It's because of this that I know that he'll be alright." The wise words from her younger son seemed to work as Diane stopped trying to escape the only means of escape for the moment. She regarded Jacob with sad expression before bowing her head slightly as she realized that her twelve year old was telling the truth and she should just accept it. It was hard though.

"Hey Ma, Jacob, guys..." Everyone turned to see Marcus somehow back on his feet with a happy go lucky smile on his face and his eyes closed. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Then as the vortex was about to completely close he said, "...see ya later." And the portal closed and disappeared from the warehouse along with people Marcus swore he would save. With that said Marcus finally gave out and fell to the ground unconscious.

The soldiers descended from the top level and surrounded Marcus's fallen form awaiting whatever order Damon told them to do. The man himself walked over to look at Marcus as well and for a few seconds there was only silence until he ordered them to put the boy in the holding cells down below. The troops obeyed and five of them lifted the mutant up and carried him downstairs.

With that out of the one soldier stepped up and asked, "What now sir?" Damon looked at the man with a stoic look and ordered. "Prep the machine to be up and running and tell Madame Hydra to expect an attack in the upcoming hours. Things are about to get heavy but we will make good on our promise to bring in X23." "Sir." The soldier saluted the man before he relayed the command to everyone else and left to report to Madame Hydra leaving the white haired military man alone with one thought.

***"Whether or not we capture that girl is no longer of high importance. With Marcus in my grasp I can finally obtain that which I have sought for so long."*** He paused to regard the mutant absorption device in his hand and squeezed it tight. ***"I shall finally reach the fullest of my potential."***

* * *

Elsewhere...

A little while later...

"So that's all you have to tell us about what happened?" Professor Xavier asked Phoebe inside of his study room. Wolverine, Beast, and the rest of the teaching faculty were there along with Gen, Tamara, John, the twins, and Marcus's family. The captives from Hydra island had arrived at the Institute a few hours ago and after a some medical treatment the small group had asked for a meeting on what to do next.

"Yes that's all we know." Phoebe answered. "So can you help us save Marcus?" Charles had no hesitation when he replied, "Yes we will help you. I will assemble a team right now and you can leave as soon as possible." The green haired woman thanked the Professor and as he and everyone else began to leave they were stopped by Diane.

"I wanted to say thank you for doing this and most of all..." she stopped as she felt tears coming to eyes but pulled them back with all the strength she could muster. She knew she couldn't come along since she would do more harm than good so she had to stifle her feelings a lot to keep herself from doing something she might regret. So with the full pleading of a mother about to lose her child she finished. "...please bring my son back to me."

She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked to her left to see Logan offering her a reassuring smile. "That's what the X-men were made for Mame." His words brought confidence to the blond woman's heart as she nodded to him. Now that they were all agreed they needed to get ready for the final fight with Damon Cross and Madame Viper. With both of these deadly enemies against them things were about to get rough or both the X-men and the mutant gang with no name. However they were determined to make on thing a reality: saving Marcus and stopping the two organization leaders.

Unbeknownst to them another had been listening in on the meeting from outside the window and had already made the decision to help Marcus as well. As the short mutant kicked off from the space and landed on the ground her long brown hair flew in the wind as she looked up to sky with a look of anger and determination in her green eyes.

***"I thought I told you to come back here you idiot."*** thought Laura as she tightened her fist letting her two claws come out. ***"Now...I'm just going to have to bring you back."***

Ch.10 End

Dang this one took me soooo long to make. First with some computer mishaps and planning for all the dialog but now I'm just glad its done. Whew I hope the next chapter isn't this long.

So we've seen Marcus fight on his own, do some damage, find his mom, and get defeated in the end. Sucks for him but at least the hostages are safe. That means next time everyones going to go all out. Also a brief look into Damon's past with Marcus's father. Expect a bit more of them next chapter.

Next time Damon's true goal is revealed and the X-men and other mutants launch an attack to save our favorite shadow bender. Expect dramatic battles, maybe some humor, and who knows what else in the ending chapters of Dark Bonds.

AJ Katon out.

Oh yeah and I'm graduating from high school on Saturday! :) Bring on the college life!


	11. Chapter 11

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch.11 Storming Hydra PT.2

_16 years ago..._

_New York City..._

"_So what is it that you're asking me exactly?" asked Carter Stanford as he scratched his head in confusion. He was inside the one of the facilities that Damon Cross had made for the government. They were currently testing new models of Honda vans and trucks on the surface since it was one of the few things Carter knew how to do, while researching new weapons and other things in total secrecy. They were currently finishing up on a few inventions that the dark haired Stanford had began on in the time that he decided to work for Damon._

_They had made many successes in the three years since they started such as the amazing absorption disk that can absorb the ability of any mutant ability it comes into contact with. The device had one many applications thanks to Carter's genetic research but since the ones who were trying to buy it were the many mutant hating groups it unfortunately wasn't selling as much as it should._

_A few weeks ago Damon had come before Carter to ask him to begin the creation of a certain experiment that he always wanted to try. The experiment that could successfully give anyone human the mutant gene. The one thing Damon has wanted his whole life. However the testing phase had yet to be completed since Carter and his team had to crunch their numbers many times to make sure that it all was perfect. One miscalculation and whoever was on that lab table being worked on would end up...well that was inconclusive._

_So now the team had gone through their designs enough times to see that it was ready and waiting for a guinea pig and Damon was the first to volunteer. _

"_Like I said Carter," the white haired man repeated with a hint of impatience. "I want to be the first one to be subjected to the X-genes transfer." His words made all the scientists and even his two guards drop their jaws in shock. Their boss was basically signing up for a risky procedure that could make them all unemployed if it went wrong. Was he out of his mind?!_

_Carter, being Damon's main friend, was the only one to express his concern. "Damon look I know that this is very important to you but the first tests are always the ones that could be catastrophic. We may have done all the calculations but there is still a chance that something else will happen. We can't risk you getting killed or worse if the experiment goes wrong."_

_Damon placed his hands behind his back and looked the geneticist in the eye as he said. "Carter I understand that everyone is worried about me but I will not budge from this. Things will work out better for us if I do this." "How do you figure that?" asked one of the scientists behind Carter._

_Damon raised his hand and held up three fingers for all to see as he counted of his well-thought out and good points. "One: If there is a risk to this procedure than as the boss its my responsibility to make sure none of my personnel are harmed in anything company related and offer myself to the challenge other than the other way around. Two: In the event of anything actually going wrong I have already put in some extra precautions in the event of either my harm or my death so that you are all well compensated for your time and that everything that you've made is kept under your names so that no one else can get them."_

_His words were already making everyone go over to his side as they registered what he said and found that it made perfect sense. However it was Carter who was still proving to be very stubborn about it. He knew that Damon would plan for everything in the event that something went wrong but that was still no reason to risk a life. Especially not the life of his friend. So now he had to listen to Damon final before he could decide anything._

"_And finally-" Damon stopped his declaration and walked forward to place his hand on his colleague's shoulder. He looked the dark haired man in the eye as he said, "It's been my goal-no my dream to become like them and finally obtain my full potential. By doing this I can finally achieve that dream and I don't care what the cost is. Whatever sacrifices I have to make I will face them in order to get what I desire."_

_He removed his hand from Carter's arm to regard all the scientists in the room as he made one final plea. "So now with it finally within my grasp I need all your to get so please...will you help me?"_

_A long silence filled the room as everyone waited for the one person who Damon was really addressing to make the final decision. Carter looked into the teal eyes of his friend and knew that this was exactly what the military man wanted. A chance, no matter how small, to be taken. With all this before him Carter finally sighed and gave in. "We can begin the test anytime you're ready, Mr. Cross."_

_This elicited silent cheers from the scientists and a look of gratitude from the boss man himself. He extended his hand to Carter and the lab coated geneticist took it into a hand-shake. "Thank you Carter," Damon said to him while offering a genuine smile, "And don't worry so much. What's the worst that can happen?"_

_Damon would never know how true those words were come later._

_A month later..._

"_So whose the lucky woman?" Damon asked as he sat on one of the medical beds waiting for the doctors to finish up his physical examination. They had to make sure that his body was up to the possible strain he may suffer during the genetic transformation. It was obvious that he would be in great health both physically and psychologically since he does maintain a military image and works everyday to keep his strength up. But according to him today's not just about him, it was about his best friend finally getting engaged._

"_Well..." Carter Stanford started off, joy obviously present on his face. "Her name is Diane. Diane Morrison. She's a high school physics and language teacher. We met up a year ago." "A year?" the white haired Cross questioned before smirking, "Tch. I'm amazed that she's managed to put up with you that long. But she finally got ya in the end, huh?" _

_A small frown appeared on the other man's face from being interrupted and Damon waved his hands in the air while chuckling. "Okay, okay I'm sorry for interrupting. Please go on." "Okay then. Well after our first meeting I asked her out a few times, we went a few places and just hit it off. Then after awhile we kinda got closer and well...about a week ago I just proposed." "Wait you didn't do the whole down on one knee thing did you?" Cross's words caused a confused look to come across the engaged man's face before he answered, "Yea."_

_Damon slapped his head in a groan before explaining, "Man why didn't you do something original? You could have come up with something to dazzle her with instead of that old thing." 'Yeah this coming from a guy who didn't go on a single date in college." retorted Carter with a smirk. "Neither did you." "And now look. I'm getting married soon." Silence developed in the medical room before Damon commented, "Touche. So how's it going so far?" "We've set the date for next year. Right now she's back in Chicago. She says she wants to teach for a little while longer before anything else happens and I've told her I'm going to be working in the office for a few days."_

"_Did you tell her what kind of work you do?"Damon asked. A smile came across Carter's face as he replied, "Don't worry, I've left out anything about you or any of this out of my explanation. She justs knows that work for Honda GM in development and research." "And you're sure she bought?"_

"_Hehe. Yeah she did. She even asked me if I can get her a discount on a new model coming soon." The two men shared a small chuckle at that and soon the room returned to its normal quiet space. It stayed that way until Damon finally asked, "So after the project is over do you want me to get you transferred to a real Honda company or Mitsubishi?" Carter turned around to regard the man with eyes that said 'what are you talking about?'_

"_You know that we can't have any civilians learn about what we do and if you plan to start a family working in secrecy is not the best thing." the military man explained. "There are many other places you can work for and it can be honest work that you don't have to hide from your family." Damon paused to let those words sink in before he delivered the last part, "Think about it. After this experiment just think about it. Okay, Carter?" _

_Carter stood there aghast at what he just heard. His old friend who he promised to help and work for was offering a way out this line of work so that he could live a normal life. It sounded good and he definitely didn't want to keep secrets from his new wife but he was hesitant. He felt like he owed the guy in front of him for all that he's done and would rather not break off the partnership. So all he could do was wait like Damon suggested and said, "Sure."_

_Then the medical team came back in through the doors making the light discussion come to an end. Damon got up from the bed and stood in a military posture as he asked, "Well what does the chart say?" The doctor in the front whose hair and mouth were covered in a medical uniform looked over the chart one more time before he closed it and concluded, "All scans and tests are positive Mr. Damon. You are in perfect health and I'm pretty sure that you can handle this experiment." _

_Damon nodded to their report and the doctors left the two men alone. Damon crossed his arms and smirked at his colleague as he said, "Told ya so. Now you owe me a twenty." "Bah, why'd I bother to bet against a guy who probably works out everyday?" "Because for a geneticist you're not that smart." Damon said as he exited the room leaving an angered Carter to follow after him._

_The two men walked through the hallway to get to the room where the crazy experiment was about to happen. Carter glanced at Damon a few times still hesitant about going through with this while Damon held no type of resistance in his eyes. He was only looking forward to the possibility of achieving his goal. Shaking his head, the charcoal haired geneticist continued the walk until they finally came by the door._

_Inside were the basic large and small computers used to organize any and all data for whatever may happen. In the center of the room was a large table with iron straps on it for probable safety reasons, but the one thing that stood out the most was the really big laser above the table with the strange sphere with the X marked on it. That was how the whole thing was gonna go down. They were gonna pump their boss full X-gene and a few volts of electricity to add the effect. Sounded kinda cliché for some reason._

_Damon took his place on the table laying flat on his back while Carter and another guard placed the restraints on him. "Just a safety precaution." explained Carter as he clamped down the last restraint. "Don't need you moving around too much when the beam hits ya. You said you'd take whatever pain that came with it." "And I will." replied the teal eyed businessman with a nod as he looked up to the tip of the laser. With that done the soldier took his place beside the other soldier to see what comes next while Carter approached the computers and started up the machine._

_The computers flashed to life as Damon pressed on many keyboards and pulled a few levers before he looked to the machine. The X-sphere was glowing madly as its contents swirled in a perfect circle and the pointed tip of the laser began to crackle and glow. After a few more minutes the laser glowed to its fullest extent as Damon and Carter looked at each other and the guy strapped on the table gave a simple nod for the geneticist to continue._

_Carter pressed the final button and instantly Damon was hit on the chest by the life changing beam. He winced at the pain coming into his torso but knew that a little pain was necessary if the end result was good. The beam continued to enter the man as Carter looked at the computer that displayed Damon's genetic makeup and health monitors. All seemed pretty green as the experiment dragged on and soon Damon was at fifty percent completion. _

_Then everything went wrong..._

_Suddenly red lights started to flicker on the screens and Damon felt the power of the laser increase its pressure while the guards continued to stand there thinking it was all part of the process. Carter went on the alert as the dark haired man scrambled through the computers to see what was going on. He was shocked to see that the problem dealt with the computer screen that handled the frequency of how much energy the laser gave off. "There's a bug in the system!" he yelled motioning to the guards. "We have to get him off that table before it kills him!!"_

_In that moment the soldiers and Carter sprang from their spots to save Damon who began to yell with pain as he felt the power get stronger. The guards had to struggle to move the beam away from their boss while Carter feverishly worked to release the bonds and move his friend away from the danger. When he finally got through the last one he grabbed Damon by the shoulders and moved him behind the table just as one of the troops managed to move the laser. Unfortunately doing so unhooked the machine from the part that kept it airborne and when it crashed to the ground it fired off its beam increased power again and shot Carter clear on the chest eliciting a scream from the man. Once again the soldiers struggled to stop the machine and before one decided to break the container of the X-gene the laser did one last thing: It fired off a few more shots through the wall and the beams went off in different directions._

_Carter fell to his knees after a second of standing and then he fell face-flat on the floor as he felt his consciousness leave him. The last thing he saw was the shouting of the troops and Damon lying on the ground next to him seemingly unconscious as well. Then he closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.

* * *

_

Present day...

Hydra's island base around 8 am...

Total darkness. That was what Marcus Stanford found himself in as he felt like he had just woken up from getting hit by either one of Laura's surprise attacks or one of Gen's steel enforced punches. Painful and able to knock him out in one go.

"Jeez can't I get a break from getting hit in the head already?" he questioned to the air as he rubbed the back of his head. It took a second for him to remember all the things that happened awhile ago. Him fighting off Hydra, being reunited with his friends and family, finally facing off against Cross himself. That part stuck with him because of how well the white haired man was able to utilize all those mutant abilities at once. But most of all was the part where Damon claimed to know his father.

Marcus never knew about his father since he disappeared a long time ago. When he asked his mom about it she replied that he was gone and left it at that. He never asked about it again thinking that it hurt her to talk about it but now with this new information, the dark haired teenager didn't know what to think anymore.

***"Damon was telling the truth when I talked about my old man, that much is certain."*** he thought placing his hand to his chin rattling the chains that were connected to them. ***"From the way Mom looked she's never seen that device before. But if really was created by my old man, why does Damon have it? How the heck does he know my old man and now that I'm captured what the hell does he want from me?"***

These questions continued to plague the shadow bender's mind but sense he didn't have enough information to piece it all together, all he could do was clutch his head and shake it a bit to calm himself down before it exploded. After taking a few breaths he calmed down and started taking in his situation.

***"Okay lets see,"*** thought the raven haired teenager folding his chained arms while sitting. ***"I've got no power, currently captive and chained to the wall, and awaiting whatever fate Cross seems to have planned out for me."*** After taking all these things into mind he came to the only conclusion he could think of: ***"I'm pretty screwed right now."***

Meanwhile the white haired kidnapper himself, Damon Cross, was watching the shadow bender take to his current in a rather calm manner. It amused him to see that Marcus wasn't panicking at the moment but probably thinking of ways to break free. Such bravery in the face of very bleak odds was definitely a strong trait in this lad.

Damon broke from his train of thought as he heard the door open and turned off his computer to face the visitor. He wasn't surprised that it was, of course, Madame Viper who looked very cold at the moment. She obviously wasn't happy about the events that transpired a few hours ago and now that even more of her staff were currently injured even more of Damon's soldiers had to take called in to take up the extra defenses. It almost felt as if he was strengthening his hold on the base while hers was getting weaker.

She approached his desk to place her hands on it and leaned forward to look him in the eye as she spoke. "Cross you've tried my patience for the last time. We had a deal and so far you're the only one whose collected his bounty while X23 is still out there. " She paused to narrow her eyes at him to convey her whole message. "You had better make good on our deal Cross. Cause if not...you will see how I take care of deal breakers."

Damon, however, seemed to be unconvinced by the lovely commander's words and only offered her a simple smirk. "If that's all you came to say Madame then you have nothing to worry about. I'm not one to break a promise to anyone who already pays me." He stopped to get up from his chair and slowly made his way to the slightly shorter woman who was already blushing from how he was looking at her.

When he was in arms length he placed his hand on her chin so that he could match the stare she just gave him but this time he made it into a good natured stare. "You know," he began as he took in the sight of her lovely face and grinned. "we weren't able to finish what we were talking about awhile ago before we were interrupted." He leaned closer and closer until their noses were touching and they were mere inches away from locking lips. "Care to continue where we left off?"

Madame Viper could only look back at the man in a daze. She found him very charming and knew that it had to do with what he said yesterday. The two were exactly alike in terms of ruthlessness, organizing their troops, and most of all their driving ambition to get what they wanted. She saw so many things in her reflected in him and for some reason felt like she could trust, possibly more than she trusted herself. With these thoughts she slowly felt herself give in as she inched closer to the man who somehow worked his way into her mind.

_***"You still need him to get X23."**_*

It was that thought that brought her away from doing what she was about to do. She pulled back from him instantly and her usual cold face remade itself as she looked at his own confused face. She still needed to make sure all her demands were met and nothing would come between her and getting her weapon back. Not even a guy she felt attracted too. Kind of.

"There will be none of that Cross. The only reason you're still here is because of deal so be ready to make good on it. Understood?" Damon's facial expressions went from slightly annoyed, to one of understanding, and finally stoic in only a few seconds from the dark haired woman's words. He stayed quiet until he finally answered, "I understand madame."

He turned away from her to make his way for the door and halted to do one last thing. He reached into his pocket to grab something and threw it to her. She easily caught it and saw that the object was the mutant absorption device she'd seen him use earlier when he confronted Marcus.

"I've already set it to a set of abilities that I believe will be of benefit to you." he explained as he opened the door and made his way out. "Tonight's going to be one hell of a night when your little weapon decides to come for her boy. Be ready to disperse some..discipline if needed." He left the room to attend to his own matters and left the Hydra leader to prepare for tonight as well.

* * *

Turning towards the heroes...

The X-jet flew at hyper speed as it made its way to the Hydra base to save Marcus. The team selected to go consisted of Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean, Beast, and Nightcrawler and Shadowcat for escape measures. Also included were the new mutants Phoebe, John, Tamara, and Gen who had enough knowledge about Damon to help out the mission at hand and finally in the back of the plane were the kids of the mission: Laura, Jubilee, Iceman, and the twins Teresa and Lida. The final few were only allowed to come thanks to Laura. She was...persistent in attending the rescue mission and when the adults finally realized there was no stopping her they allowed her to come and she somehow got them to allow the other young teens to come along too. (Partly because they knew because not only would their powers prove useful in the situation and because they knew how much they cared for Marcus and wanted to make sure he was safe. Also Laura had to use a few threats to get things moving.)

"We're coming up on the island." Wolverine said as he managed the flight controls with Storm in the copilot's seat. "Storm be ready to lay some cover for us. According to what those guys said they have a lot of technology in that base but a good fog might be enough to get rid of that."

The white haired woman gave him a nod and he turned on the autopilot so that he could have one more chat with the crew. He unbuckled himself and turned the chair around to see the collective faces of the mutants willing to put their lives on the line for just one mutant. He knew that Marcus's old crew would have come anyway and he could count on the X-men to help out a mutant in need but he was really surprised by Laura. He knew that the two had become friends in their time together but he really didn't think she'd risk going back to Hydra to save him.

***"Guess they were on better terms than I thought."*** he reasoned before finally talking to the rescue team. "Alright listen up." he got their undivided attention. "We're about to break into one of the deadliest military organizations in the world. Hydra is dangerous so you'd better be prepared. They will shoot to kill so don't give them that chance."

Everyone nodded that they understood so Logan turned to Phoebe for the next part, "Is there anything else you need to tell us about this Damon Cross?" The green haired woman shook her head and replied, "I've told you all that I know. If there is anything else Damon has up his sleeve, he's kept it quite hidden from us." Logan nodded to her and looked to the back to see Laura leaning sitting in a chair with her arms crossed. She looked seriously pissed about going back to Hydra and he could tell why.

He got up from his seat and went back there to take a seat next to her. She didn't seem to notice him as her attention was drawn to the window so he opted to start the talking. "You sure about this, kid?" The self healing mutant asked in a genuine soft tone. Laura didn't look at him as she responded, "I told you to stop calling me that." The man chuckled at her before saying, "Sorry about that. I can't help but see you as a kid." "I am not a child. I never was. And yes I am sure about this."

Wolverine's expression went back to serious as he continued, "You're risking your freedom and life to save that kid. You know Viper's gonna stop at nothing until she has you under her control." "I know that." she snapped quickly. "And I don't care. I'm going to bring that idiot back."

An amused smirk came across Wolverine's face at her words. It was so obvious that she cared about the boy. At least a little. "Never thought I'd see the day when I'd see you care about someone." The brown haired mutant turned to him with a slightly blushed yet frowned face and retorted, "I do not care about him." "If you didn't, then why are you trying to save him?" Her 'father' asked before getting from the seat and returning to the pilot's chair.

That was the question that truly made the girl stop talking all together. Why did she want to save Marcus so much? He was an idiot in her eyes and a little too childish to boot. He always had that goofy smile on his face and he kept taunting her any chance he got even though he knew that it would earn him a one way trip to a world of hurt. What was he? A masochist?

It was when she remembered once after she bashed him in the head when he did it again and something unusual happened. This time when he tried to get up in his regular goofy fashion she actually giggled at him. Laura, clone of Wolverine and all around soldier girl, actually laughed at the comedic display in front of Bobby and Jubilee and judging from their reactions they were surprised.

Marcus however, smiled back at her as he said, "There. I've finally got you to laugh in front of others. Progress has been made." "Why are you trying to do that? What do you gain from making me laugh?" she demanded as she grabbed him by his shirt. The shadow bender only held onto his smile as he answered, "Just think of it as me helping you out a bit." The furrowing of her brow told him that his answer wasn't good enough so he tried again.

"Come on Laura you can't be mad all the time. What's wrong with me trying to get you to smile or at least laugh?" he said and she finally let him go to fold her arms over her chest as she let him press on. "I'm just trying to get you to, you know, lighten up a bit so that you can enjoy your new life. You do have other emotions besides anger and it wouldn't be so bad if I could get you to use em."

A small silence washed over them as Laura let his words sink into her and after a few more seconds of silence she sighed and said, "You're asking for a lot Marcus. I'm not even sure I can show any other emotions. I don't even think I can smile at others." She noticed the depressed looks from Bobby and Jubilee and sighed again. "But I guess I can try." All three of the other teenagers' eyes lit up in joy at her words. She was going to try and be nicer to others. Hallelujah!

"But..." she quipped noticing their expressions, "..it's going to be in front of you three and maybe Jamie. I'm not going to start giving everyone a bright and happy smile just because I was asked to." After exchanging glances at each other Laura's friends shrugged their shoulders and just accepted it. "Meh, its probably better that way than having you smiling off to everybody like a flower child." Marcus said while shivering in at the notion, "That would just be too creepy if you ask me."

A smirk found its way to Laura's face as she added, "Yeah everybody would think I turned psycho and planned to murder them in their sleep." She liked the idea of her little joke while the others only stared at her with wide fear ridden eyes. When she noticed their fear, she quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What?"

"Uh Marcus," Bobby began slowly moving away from the girl, "I think we'd better help her with her jokes." "I completely agree," Marcus said nodding his head, "and if it helps Laura you don't need to smile at all." Then the small gang slowly made their way from her to the other hallway with the forest eyed girl yelling, "Hey I was just joking!"

Laura returned to reality with a smirk on her face and determination in her eyes. Now she knew why she was going to rescue that idiot. Ever since last month he had done nothing but help her. From fighting side by side against Hydra to getting her more comfortable around new people, he had been there to do what he could. Now it was her turn to repay the favor.

* * *

Back to Hydra...

The shadow bender couldn't understand why but he's been sneezing a lot for the past few minutes. After wiping his nose the final time he looked up to the ceiling and thought it was just some dust that somehow found its way to his nostrils. He obviously didn't think it was Laura thinking about. That was just ludicrous.

Shaking the thought from his head, Marcus went back to what he was originally doing. Standing on his feet, he held his right hand out before him and tried to conjure his shadow sword again. The drugs were beginning to lose their potency but so far it wasn't enough to get him out of his cell. So now he was up to his fifth try and from the looks of it this would be another failure.

***"No, no. Can't think that way. Gotta focus."*** he reprimanded himself before his thoughts went to defeat. He concentrated harder on the black surface under him, trying to get it to rise and come to his palm. He tried harder and harder until...he felt something moving around. "YES!" he yelled joyously but doing so he dropped his concentration and the shadow returned to the way it was. "Aw, dammit." he cursed dropping his hands at the development. Shrugging his shoulders, he got over it and said "Ah, at least its progress."

He shifted back to the original stance and tried again hoping for a better reaction this time. "Gotta get at least some my strength back before tonight." he said in the dark as he concentrated again making the shadow squirm in its place.

Above him Damon was having his troops set up the last bits of some machine on the first floor of the warehouse. The white haired man smirked as they set up a large object above the two tables before him that had restraints on them. The machine in the air was a large laser pointer that looked crystal white while looking above it you can see a glass bubble with an X marked on it. This was the same machine that started everything all those years ago and now it would be used again.

Damon's face melted to a stoic nature as he bowed his head slightly and closed his eyes as his mind was brought back to that day when he first tried this experiment. It resulted in something neither he or Carter would have guessed.

The beginning of how everyone's path would lead them all back to this one place.

* * *

_16 years ago.._

_A day after the accident.._

_Carter finally woke up from his small coma and saw that he was not in his home. He was in a hospital he didn't recognize but looking towards the window he saw that it was night time. The man slowly sat up rubbing his head as he tried to remember why he was suddenly here. It made no sense because just a second ago when he was-_

_It came back to him like a river rushing through floodgates as his eyes bugged out from the memories he had before blacking out. The monitors going red, the laser beaming down on Damon, the guards moving the beam only to have redirected at him, and then everything went dark. He got up quickly, tripping over his covers in the process, and ran to the door to get any type of information he could about what happened. When he opened the door he continued his run only to run over somebody who outside the door._

_After getting off the person Carter looked down to see that it was Damon who he had knocked over. The man had replaced the garbs he wore for the experiment for more casual clothing. He had on a white dress shirt with black pants and brown shoes. Damon rubbed his the back of his head in an attempt to pounding from crashing onto the floor and after a few seconds he got up and said, "Man if I'd known you were going to tackle me I wouldn't have come."_

"_Damon, are you alright?" Carter asked getting off the floor and examining his friend, "Are your bones okay? Vital organs? Did the exper-" "Carter!" the white haired man yelled putting his hand on the black haired geneticist's mouth, "Not here." He moved Carter back into the room and closed and locked the door._

_Now Carter was sitting on the bed with Damon leaning on the door with his arms folded. When he was sure it was safe Carter asked again, "Damon, what happened?" The military man sighed deeply before looking straight at the Stanford man and replied, "The whole experiment was a failure. The laser short-circuited and almost killed the both of us. Luckily those guards were there to help or both of us would have been fried." _

_Carter was disappointed to hear what he already knew. He saw it for himself. But one question still hung in his mind, "Why?" he asked aloud even though he tried to keep it to himself. Damon shrugged his shoulders and said, "We don't know why but it happened._

_We can't rule out the possibility of sabotage so we're investigating it just in case."_

_Carter let his head droop down as disappointment racked him as well. He felt as if he had failed his boss as well as his friend. A silence went on for several minutes before Carter finally asked, "Are you sure that it didn't work?" Damon narrowed his gaze at the stupidity of those words and responded, "Yeah I'm pretty sure Carter. I'm not flying around, knocking down buildings, or igniting fire from my hands." _

_His expression softened a bit as he finished, "We've failed, Carter. Plain and simple." "I'm not so sure about that." Carter countered eliciting a questionable look to dawn on Damon. "We both got it hit over 1,000 volts of pure genetic code. Something may have happen but it could be just a delayed reaction." Still pretty skeptical, Cross asked, "And what are you basing this on?" A smile appeared on Carter's face as he stood up and had Damon move to the side as the dark haired man grabbed the doorknob. "Because I'm the geneticist here and I know what I'm talking about. Now come on, we need to find out if I'm right or not."_

"_Carter.." "Come ooon." the blue eyed adult urged his friend as he opened the door and walked out, "What's wrong with being sure?" Damon groaned at the guy's stubbornness and followed outside._

_A couple of hours later..._

_Carter was back in his lab coat looking into a petri dish with Damon's blood in it. The two men had borrowed a room from the hospital in order to run a blood test and prove whether Carter's hypothesis was true. Damon stood next to him with a bored look on his face. He already suspected that there was no chance that he had the mutant gene so he barely paid attention to his friend as he continued to study the samples. The experiment failed, plain and simple. Just give it up al-_

"_Yes!" that yell brought the tan skinned man out of his thoughts with a jolt. "I told you it worked! The X-gene did get transferred into you!" He stood up from his chair to grab Damon's arm and make him take a seat. "Look, look! See for yourself!" Damon began to feel a small glimmer of hope from the way his friend acted and decided to take the chance and look. Looking into the microscope he only saw red blood cells moving around. After taking a few seconds to see what the teal eyed man was talking about he pulled back from the magnifying device and looked at Carter with a puzzled look._

_Carter noted his expression and told him to look again as white lab coated man explained what he was looking at. "You see these are your red bloods cells at a 5x's the magnification. And here..." he paused as he switched the scopes, "..is what it looks like at 100x's the magnification. See the difference?" Damon looked again and saw that there was a difference this time. Carter had magnified the scope so much that you could see that some of the original blood cells were now spotted with black marks._

"_Yeah my blood's gotten darker." Damon quipped in a sarcastic tone. "What's your point?" "My point is that before the experiment your blood cells were normal and now they've been branded with black marks." Carter's tone was like that of an overexcited child as he continued, "This is prove that in some way the procedure worked but when everything went wrong the process was interrupted and the transformation went only half-way. "_

"_Damon there's still a chance that you can be a mutant. All we have to do is restart the project and-" "Carter this project will not be restarted." Damon cut him off with hints of sadness in his voice. "But-" "No means no. Just forget about it." The air grew silent and tense as they stood in that room held the small fragment of Damon's hope. _

_The white haired government worker stood on the spot with folded arms and closed eyes contemplating what to do next. On the one hand he still had a chance to obtain his life's ambition and achieve a mutant ability. On the other, there was another chance that the experiment could go wrong and someone could die. And Damon didn't feel like telling a newlywed that her groom died from helping him with a dangerous procedure._

_But he knew that Carter would somehow convince him again and no matter how much he would deny it, he would want to do it again. So he decided to sigh and say the only thing he could think of, "After the wedding."_

_Carter was confused by the sudden words until Damon elaborated on his intentions, "We will try again after you are happily married and have some kids. I'm not going to jinx your chance to have a family on a whim and be held accountable for it." He released his hands and offered one to Carter, "So do we have deal?"_

_It took Stanford no time to rise out of the chair and accept the proposal with a strong handshake. "Deal. And it's one I plan to keep my end of the bargain on." he said shaking Cross's hand one last time. Now they had a solid deal that can work to both to their advantages. Though that kid thing may take a while._

_On their way out the door a thought came to Damon and he decided to voice it, "Hey, what if you also have the mutant gene and if you had kids wouldn't they be full-fledged mutants?" Carter froze at that. He had never taken into account that he would have the mutant gene as well. And what would he do if his kids did turn out to be mutants? How the heck would he handle it?_

"_Uh..that actually happening is most likely an impossibility." the dark haired man replied rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "And in the event that it does happen?" Damon persisted. Carter took a second to think it over rubbing his chin with his right hand while resting his right elbow on his left hand. When the two finally came to an elevator, Carter removed both hands from their spots and proclaimed, "I'll just deal with it when it comes. It's just mutant powers. What harm can they do?"_

_Damon rolled his eyes at the man's strange way of simplifying something that has wagged public debates and sparked a great animosity and racism in the world. He held no confidence in Carter's ability to handle this. "What if I helped you?" he asked pressing the down button, "You know, just in they really do have powers." Carter gave the man a surprised look and a grateful look at how helpful he wanted to be, "Thanks. I would like your help but only if they show the signs. As you've said we can't have civilians learning about what we do."_

_The elevator came and both secret government workers stepped in at the same time. As Damon pressed the button for the first floor he asked, "So does that mean I can't be the best man?" Carter smiled at the guy and answered, "Well I think we can work around the secrecy just for the wedding. After all it is a part of the agreement that I get married, so I see no reason why a friend can't be there." _

_A smirk appeared on Damon's face as the elevator closed and headed for the first floor. Now there was something good to go on for not only Damon, but Carter as well.

* * *

_

Snapping back to present day...

***"And now that deal shall be realized today."*** thought Damon as he opened his eyes and looked at the completed machine that helped spark what was going to happen here tonight. ***"It is a shame that you are not here Carter. Even more shame is the fact of what I've done to get this far."*** He bowed his head as he remembered all the pain that he had put his best friend's family through. Had Carter been here he'd probably snap and end their friendship here and now.

But he wasn't here. He was gone. And that brought Damon's cruel side back to him as he remembered what he was about to do. He was going to obtain the full X-gene and become a mutant. His ambition was going to be realized. And who better to help him than the son of the person who started the change.

Suddenly...

An explosion was heard coming from behind the white haired manipulator. He turned around to see the smoke coming from the front part of the island. A second later he saw thunderous clouds gather and all sorts of strange weather strike in the same spot the explosion came from.

"Sir." Damon turned his head to left to see one of his dark blue clad sergeants come to him, "We have reports saying that the X-men have arrived sir." A smirk appeared on Damon's face at the news. It was finally time to begin. "All right. Bring up the boy and get the machine up and running. The rest of you get out there and fight. Afterwards get all of our men off this island. Understood?" "Sir." the masked soldier saluted and ran back to the others to report the orders. Two teams dispersed: one running towards the fray while the other went down the elevator to the prison cells.

Turning towards the battlefield once more Damon crossed his arms and had one thought go through his mind, ***"Now its time for the final act."***

* * *

Prior to Damon's reminiscing...

"We're about to touch down. Everyone look alive." Wolverine's order echoed in the headsets the rescue team wore as the jet slowed down and began its decent onto the island. Currently they were being riding along with Storm's rising fog and so far hadn't been detected. Yet.

After a few seconds the plane touched down in the open area of the beach. The doors flew open as Logan, Storm, Beast, Jean, Cyclops, and the other mutants hopped off the plane and onto the ground. The younger mutants were about to join them when Logan held them up, "You kids secure the jet. We'll go get Marcus." The first one to voice their displeasure: take a guess?

"That's not why I'm here." growled Laura. However Wolverine was not fazed by her show of anger and returned the growl. "We need someone to make sure that our only ride out of here is safe or its all over. And your still on Hydra's most wanted list. I'm not gonna risk you getting captured just because you decided to get reckless." "What do you care?! You're not my father!!" "So what?! I'm still you're family!!"

It was that last comment that made everything quiet again. Laura regarded the man who shared part of her DNA and saw something in his eyes. Honesty. Truth. Care. He was really worried for her safety. The same kind of worry that she'd seen on the faces of adults who had children. That's what it was. The concern of parent.

Wolverine noticed that she had backed off from the door and sat back down with the others. A wave of relief hit him as he reached inside raised a hand to where the button that closed the door was. Before he pressed it he looked at all the young mutants one more time. Hardening his gaze, he gave them one last thing, "We'll be back with Marcus. I promise." and closed the door.

With that taken care of the blue haired soldier mutant turned back to the others and the mutants began their run towards the base. Nightcrawler and John decided to teleport ahead and get a better layout of the place. Squinting their eyes to get better focus, they saw an armada of soldiers, both Hydra black and Damon blue, standing outside the gate leading to the control tower and most importantly the warehouse.

Poofing or in John's case, opening a portal, the two teleporters went back to the others and Nightcrawler gave their report, "Vhere are a vhole lot of guards at the main gate. I vink vhat all vheir soldiers are vhere." Logan gave it some thought as his group continued their way through the jungle until they came to a suitable spot to hide for the moment. Logan had his back against a tree with the others crouched behind him as he looked over the tree to see the situation for himself. The elf did not lie. There was a whole frickin army over there!

Logan looked back at his team and gave his assessment, "From the looks of it their tightening up their guard and preparing for a fight. It's just like you said Kurt, the whole island security's standing over there." "So what's the plan?" Cyclops asked. The former Weapon X thought it over for several seconds before a solution came to him. "We split up into two separate teams. The X-men will handle these guys," he turned to Phoebe's group, "and the rest of you will pop out on the other side and reach Marcus. When you've got him , beep us and we'll all get the hell out of here."

"A good plan, Wolverine." said a voice that came from nowhere. By instinct Wolverine screamed for everyone to scatter as he leapt away from the tree. A second later the shaded area the rescue team were just in exploded at the sound of the incoming rocket launcher. The area was engulfed in flames and broken earth before the X-men returned to it. Luckily John had been able to teleport them away from the damage long enough for the explosion to happen without any of them getting caught in the crossfire.

Upon getting his bearings back, Logan looked forward to see something he truly didn't want to. Gauntlet and Omega Red had returned, fully healed from the battle with Marcus, with the whole army behind them. Gauntlet had one leg stuck that he crouched on and rested his right hand on that held a rifle while there was a rocket launcher resting on his left shoulder. Omega Red wore a sadistic smile on his face while six of his deadly metallic tentacles extended out of his palm while he grasped them hard. He was going to look forward to seeing Wolverine finally die.

"Logan," the self healing mutant turned around to see Cyclops placing a hand on his visor as a smirk crossed his face, "whaddya say?" It wasn't just Scott who was ready to fight. Looking around, the legendary soldier mutant saw the other X-men and company stood in fighting stances, ready to do some damage. He gave them all a smirk of his own before turning back to the offending army and extended his adamantium claws. Pulling them up to his face, he gave one order. "Beat em down." and the battle of Hydra's base began again.

* * *

Back at the warehouse...

"So, you guys do this kind of thing often, or just on Fridays?" Marcus asked as Damon's troops hand-cuffed him and forced him to get up. Wincing at the feeling of almost having a dislocated arm, he said, "So it is a Friday thing. Go figure. Crazy things always happen on those days." He stopped talking as they led him out of his prison cell and up the elevator. Along the way he hummed a few songs in his head until he felt something brush the back of his brown pants.

"Hey, hey! Whose the bastard trying to grab me!? I don't play for that team!" His words made caused an uncomfortable silence to pass on as the guards looked at each other and through their visors they came each questionable looks. Marcus looked up to the men and shook his head as one thought came to him, ***"Its gonna be a long elevator ride."***

Damon turned to the elevator when he heard the ding but when the group came out of it, he raised a brow. The troops were standing at attention as usual but there was this air of...I don't know. Awkwardness. Something was up. "What happened to you all?" "Hey Damon," Marcus interjected looking clearly pissed, "run a tighter shift okay? I don't appreciate your boys putting their hands on me. Especially my butt."

That caused a stunned expression to flash on the white haired manipulator's face as he looked at Marcus, and his men, and back and forth. He looked at the shadow's bender's eyes to see if he was telling the truth. He was. What the hell? This kind of thing never happened before and it damn sure wasn't going to happen today of all days! Looking a bit disgusted but otherwise stoic, he ordered the soldiers to strap Marcus onto the table. The raven haired fifteen year old struggled against them but in the end they were trained soldiers and he was only a trained teenager. And it was like five against one. The odds were not with him.

Once he was strapped down, Marcus raised his head to look around and saw that Damon was walking over to him, with something behind his back. When Damon was close enough, Marcus brow furrowed in anger as he asked, "What is this Cross? Do you expect me to talk?" "No, I expect you to be quiet and not quote spy movies." Damon placed something on Marcus's shoulder and the shadow mutant hissed as he felt a stab of pain. Damon then went to a soldier and handed him something else as Marcus asked, "What was that for?"

The soldier took the circular object and went elsewhere as Damon turned back to the captured teenager to explain, "That, Marcus, was the last thing I needed in order to fulfill a life long ambition of mine." Looking at his arm Marcus saw that whatever the object was, it was very small and square. "By sticking some square thing on me? What is gonna slowly torture me?" Damon chuckled at the childish way Carter's son made things. He probably got that from him. "Probably but it isn't for you. It's for me." Marcus raised a brow of confusion until he managed to see the same soldier again walking up to the X marked glass ball on top of the laser pointer, holding whatever bit him on the arm. By squinting his eyes the shadow bender managed to see what it was as the soldier placed the object inside the ball. The mutant absorption device.

Looking back at the smirking military man, Marcus asked, "Damon what are you up to? What is this machine?" Finally the moment Cross had been waiting for. The big moment where he would reveal all and see the look on his arch enemy, the one person who stood in his way's, face. Funny how the son of his best friend would turn out to be that enemy. Ain't life grand?

"This machine was an invention of your father's." Damon saw the look of shock and then doubt appear on the boy's face and went on, "Sixteen years ago, I asked him to build it for me." "Bullcrap." Marcus retorted. "No, no. Not bullcrap." Marcus wanted to flip off the man before him but since he couldn't move his hands all he could manage was a hateful glare. Damon sighed ans shrugged it off, "Fine. Don't believe me but tell me though...do you even know your father?"

The fifteen year old mutant's silence the white haired businessman everything. "Haven't you ever wondered why out of all the people in the world did I capture those people. Why I took your family?" "Because you're an as*%$le." Damon laughed. "No, my boy, it is all because of what Carter tried to do for me." "And that was?" Damon's face turned stoic as he answered, "Turn me into a mutant."

More silence fell on the room while the few soldiers still there fixed up the machine and outside the X-men continued to battle it out with the armed forces at the front. After a minute or two Damon started again, "Your father was a college graduated geneticist and my oldest friend. Eighteen years ago I hired him to work for my military company. He worked diligently and made many things such as the absorption device by working with the mutant gene. It was all working out so well until-" Marcus noted the Cross's clenched fists as he stopped for a moment and asked, "So what happened? Aren't you going to continue?"

Damon looked up to stare at the boy with incredulous eyes. Marcus shrugged as best as he could as he answered, "Got nothing better to do until I can bust out of here. Might as well hear something about my old man." Damon erupted into an evil laugh that resounded throughout the building until he slowly stopped and said, "Man you are a brave kid. Just like your old man." Marcus gave him an evil glare telling him to just continue.

Not phased by it Damon crossed his arms and said, "Very well. Things went bad sixteen years ago when Carter-" he raised his finger to point at the laser," built this machine. It was supposed to make me into a mutant but like everything that happens a first time it messed up and I ended up half and half. No powers and luckily no physical mishaps. But being your father he didn't want to give up, so he made me promise him that we would try again after he was happily married and had kids. However-" "He died." Marcus finished for the older man.

Damon clenched and opened his fists again at how blunt the young man was about it but he understood why. Marcus had never really known his father since Carter had died while the shadow bender was still a baby. He probably got over it so fast because he never felt anything for someone he never knew.

Clearing himself of his emotions Damon finally spoke, "Yes he died. Which leaves you to fulfill his promise." "And why the hell would I do that?" Marcus scoffed. "Sir," a soldier called from the second floor. "we're ready to begin." A smirk formed on the corner of Damon's mouth as he walked over to the other table under the laser and replied to Marcus, "Because now you don't have a choice."

* * *

Back to the X-men...

The battle was so far going in a stalemate for the heroes as they continued to push through the army of Hydra and Cross. Wolverine lead them in the front fighting off Omega Red while Phoebe handled Gauntlet at the front gate. Gen and Tamara were tag-teaming to demolish their enemies in the open field that was leveled by Gauntlet's last attack as Storm flew above them conjuring storms and lightning attacks. Scott managed to blast away a few soldiers before they had a chance to hit Jean whose was using her powers to fight but also shielding anyone who needed it on the cliff overlooking the beach and Beast was covering Kitty who was phasing through everything thrown at her. Finally the two teleporters were in the trees and had to juggle transporting their friends out of danger, teleporting their enemies of the island and out of their way, and fight for their own sakes.

Wolverine ducked to the side as he dodged yet another whip attack from the Russian mutant and tried to close the distance between them to end the fight. He slugged the red mutant with his claws and managed to scratch his face. Omega yelled in pain as he placed a hand on his face and lashed out at the air with the other. Logan saw his chance and took another swipe at the few remaining tentacles the blond mutant had, destroying Omega's last few weapons.

The Russian roared at Logan as he charged for the former Weapon X but before he could complete whatever it was he was going to do, Logan jumped to side and before he could follow something rushed the enraged Russian. It was Phoebe who shot one of her strongest lightning bolts at Omega's chest. The blast wouldn't kill him but as he fell on his back it was obvious that he was done for the count.

"Ready!" The two mutants looked behind them to see Gauntlet standing before inside the gate, brandishing two rocket launchers locked on them and the bad thing was he wasn't alone. On both of his sides were three sets of soldier all of which had rocket launchers of their own. Oh crap. Logan was about to buzz the others when the mercenary mutant shouted, "Fire!!" and all eight rockets were fired at the same time.

Time seemed to slow down as each shot went off in a different direction. Phoebe tried to shoot them all down but only got one which exploded far from the others. One tried to get Storm but the weather witch redirected it with a gust of wind and sent it to another one and detonated both. Another was about to strike at Kitty and Beast but Nightcrawler appeared at the last second and got them to safety while John opened a portal as the rocket got close to the ground and went through it. An explosion was heard on a far corner of the island.

With four down and four to go, Gen went to work as Tamara grabbed his arm, spun him around, and threw him at the remaining threats. The steel plated man easily grabbed onto two of them and crushed them into his hands, detonating them in the air. Now there were only two and Cyclops was ready to blast them both out of-

"Aggh!!" The optic blaster turned his head and saw the horror next to him. A soldier had managed to sneak up on Jean and taken her down with a stun gun. The red haired psychic fell to the ground. "Jean!!" Cyclops yelled before he blasted the soldier far away with his eye beams. The future leader of the X-men ran to the side of the girl he loved and knelt to carry her off in his arms.

Suddenly Nightcrawler appeared before them to get them out of danger but out of nowhere another soldier came up and shot not only him and but Scott a bullet full of the anti-mutant drug. Kurt staggered back from his fellow X-men as the soldier decided to take the offensive and pulled out a stun gun. He tried to shoot but Jean managed to regain a bit of consciousness and used her telekinesis to hold the soldier in place and throw him over the cliff and into the ocean before slipping back into unconsciousness. Their brief moment of safety was broken as they remembered one other threat that was coming straight for them. The last two rockets. They had no way of defending themselves or getting away. They were helpless.

* * *

We go a few minutes before this went down....

"Uh what's that do?" Marcus asked as machine began firing up as Damon strapped himself on the table that was under it. The strange thing that was on his shoulder was also starting to glow so that meant this wasn't going to be fun.

"I guess there's no harm in telling you now." Damn shrugged as a guard closed in the last restraint. Once that was done the trooper joined the others has they manned the controls and computers at the side as Damon explained his plan, "Basically when I got hit with the laser sixteen years ago, I only received half of the mutation which meant no powers. But imagine my surprise when I learned something about your father that proved to be very... informative."

"And that was?"asked Marcus not following. "That laser it us both Marcus. You manipulate shadows. Do the math." Man can't this guy just give a straight answer. Okay his dad got hit with the same laser, Damon got nadda and his Dad got-

Marcus's teal eyes bugged out as the obvious answer hit him like a brick. Damon saw the realization and decided to voice the truth. "Your father received the same mutant gene as me. Thanks to my ambition and your father's help, you and your mutant ability were born. Your welcome."

No frickin way! The reason Marcus was a mutant and was able to so many thins was because of the same as%##le who had taken away his family?! and for what?! To be a mutant?! "Why me?! Why'd you take my mom and brother?! Answer me, Damon!" the shadow bender roared as the soldiers continued to press buttons and stand at the side.

"I needed to push you to your limits to test your mutant ability and see how far you'd progress. How fortunate for you that you have the adaptability of a soldier." "Why push me? What did that prove?" "When I found out your father having the X-gene I knew that part of the experiment went into him. So in order to become a mutant I needed the other half to complete the mutation."

The laser roared as the Damon's men put in the final touches and finally activated the beam. The moment it activated the chip on Marcus shoulder activated and a searing sting followed. Marcus yelled in pain as the chip sent a beam straight to the container above the laser into the absorption device and into the laser tip. Damon smirked as the laser powered up to full. "Thanks for your donation." were Damon's last words as the beam struck him in the chest and he let out his own scream of pain.

While this went on no one noticed the shadow that managed to slip into the warehouse and managed to get to the second floor. Laura scanned the area to see Marcus and Damon screaming and the laser that seemed to connect them. Understanding what needed to be done, she extended four adamantium claws and dove at the laser, slicing the glass container and trailing down the laser as well. The machine exploded in a flash of white but not before giving the two strapped men one final jolt that knocked both of them off their tables.

Laura stood up and the soldiers took no time in gathering their guns and opened fire on her but she was saved by a black mass that appeared out of nowhere. Once the gunmen stopped firing, the veil dropped and when Laura turned to her left she instantly smirked. Marcus stood before her with one hand stretched out in front of donning his shadow armor. He returned her smirk as he said, "Thanks X. I feel a lot better now." and conjured up a shadow sword.

When he did the soldiers began rushing down to stop the mutants but Marcus and Laura moved faster than them and charged to take them down. "Stand down!" a voice called within the warehouse causing the fighters to halt in their march. The two teenagers looked behind themselves and saw the health filled form of Damon Cross standing in the rubble of what used to be the mutant genetic transferrer. He stood proud and strong as he crossed his arms over with his white dress shirt and black pants still clothing him even after taking a laser beam to the chest. His teal eyes faced forward to see his soldiers and the young mutants and with an amused smirk he ordered, "Soldiers, evacuate the island. Your part of the job is finished."

The soldiers seemed hesitant to follow those orders so Damon decided to be strict, "I gave you a direct order to evacuate. Now get yourselves and the rest of our troops off this island. Now!" Once again they hesitated but they complied nonetheless and immediately left the building. When th last soldier was gone Marcus turned his whole body to his enemy and asked, "What's the matter Cross? Can't stand to get beat down in front of your boys?"

Chuckling at the boy's banter the white haired man answered, "No, Marcus. I no longer need them to be here. With this finally done, I can repay Madame Viper for her help and get off this island with my payment." "Like hell you are." Marcus retorted getting into a stance with Laura doing to the same. Damon laughed at the two for their show of bravery and switched to a fighting stance to activate his powers-

_**Shoom!!**_

All three mutants turned their heads to the open doors of the warehouse to see a bolt of lightning appear from nowhere and head straight for them. They ducked out of the way and the elemental blast went passed them and blasted the monitors for the X-gene laser. The equipment erupted in flames and a small explosion as Marcus and Laura guarded their eyes from the light. When it was safe to look Laura opened her eyes to see if Damon used the distraction to escape. The first thing she saw was Marcus with a shocked expression on his face and that made her quirk a brow as to why he looked like that. As if he already knew what she was going to ask he raised a finger and pointed it forward. As she followed his vision trail she was me with something that made even her jaw drop.

Before the two teenage mutants were the forms of both Damon Cross and Madame Viper. Holding each other. And to make it worse: kissing each other. No, more like the two military leaders and mortal enemies of Marcus and Laura were going through a steamy romance novel scene. What the hell was that about? Their little scene lasted for two more minutes until they broke apart and turned their heads to see the shocked faces of the younger mutants.

After more seconds of silence Marcus asked, "Hey Laura were our enemies just making out before our very eyes?" His question served to knock the girl out of her daze and her normal frown returned as she replied, "Yes." "Oh good. I thought I'd finally gone crazy," he said through a breath of relief before returning his attention to the two adults who were still hugging, "and when the hell did this happen? And for that matter, what is this?"

"A mutual partnership." answered Madame Viper as she removed herself from Damon's arms and pulled out a mutant ability device out of her coat. "Now then X23 it is time that I disciplined you myself for your desertion." Laura's fury mounted as those words came out of the woman who had ordered her training and past pain. She extended her four claws and growled at the deadly older woman, "Right after I rip out your heart." "Hnnh, hnnh. Well, Marcus it seems we have more in common than you thought." Damon commented raising his hands to his sides. "And what's that?" the shadow bender asked as he shifted to his sword stance.

As Damon raised his hand, shadows arose from the dark corners of the room and engulfed the man in a dark orb. The orb dissolved instantly and when Damon emerged from it he was no longer in his regular clothing but was draped in the same shadow like armor that Marcus used, only this one was decorated with black and blue, not black and red. Damon smirked as he flexed his hand and a slightly longer midnight blue shadow saber appeared. Marcus rolled his eyes at the "originality" Damon had as the man grabbed the sword with both hands and shifted to a sword stance.

"It seems we both have an attraction to deadly women." Damon's words elicited a growl from both Laura and Marcus as the teens stared down their older enemies. The glaring lasted for a few seconds and then someone released an energy wave...

Ch.11 End

Okay so many pages and I'm done. As you've seen quick flashbacks explaining a few things, Damon's true purpose revealed, and now the final battle will begin.

Next time the final battle and chapter will be up. It's been a long time coming but it's almost over. Thanks for all your support and reviews.

AJ Katon out.

P.S.: Did that kiss blow your mind?


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

Dark Bonds

By

AJ Katon

Disclaimer: I do not own X23 or any of the X-men. All X-men related things are copyrighted by the Warner Bros. and Marvel Comics. The newly added characters such as Marcus are the ones I own.

Ch. 12 Back Again

Scott, Jean, and Kurt stood helpless against the rockets coming at them with no way to defend themselves. The red explosives came closer and closer as fear enveloped the two X-men and the unconscious red headed X-men. All seemed hopeless.

Suddenly...

_**Ker-boom!!**_

One of the bombs exploded in a flash of pink and yellow. The X-men didn't have time to think why as the other one came dangerously close to hitting Kurt who cringed and shielded his face from the upcoming death. Logan and the others tried to rush and help but they knew they wouldn't make it. Especially since their only other teleporter was busy at the moment.

So all they could do was cover their eyes and ears for what they knew would be the gruesome screams of their fellow X-men as they met their end. Any second now and it would happen.... any second now.

"Hey everyone vit's okay." The others heard Kurt's call and they all felt the same way. Total confusion.

_What the heck?_

They turned their heads and opened their eyes at the direction of where should be nothing but destruction. So it was understandable that when they saw Kurt and the others perfectly fine they were instantly confused. That is until they saw the shape the rocket was in.

The final rocket had been frozen in place like a big deadly ice sculpture. Seeing that it was easy to guess who was the hero of the hour. Iceman came up from under the cliff freezing the air under him as he slid on it inn his full body ice mode. Also with him were the twin Lida and Teresa holding each other for warmth for obvious reasons and Jubilee holding onto his cold shoulder.

"Fire again!" Logan recognized Gauntlet's dark tone and instantly knew what he was up to. He looked and shouted, "Storm give us some cover!" The weather witch nodded and summoned a whirlwind that blew away the Hydra mercenary and his men back into the hydra base, giving the X-men a temporary time to rest and recuperate.

Cyclops let Jean lie on the ground gently and took his stand next to her while Logan and the others walked over. When Phoebe approached she sat on her knees and placed her hand on the red headed psychic with a mildly worried Scott watching intently. A second later a small electrical spark flowing out of Jean's head and into Phoebe's hand which only served to unnerve everyone. After a few more seconds Phoebe finished her strange procedure and explained, "She'll be alright but she's not going to be fighting anymore."

"What did they do to her?" Scott asked as his anger began to show. Luckily Logan and Hank were there to make sure he didn't do anything ill advised.

"They've hit her with one of their new stun guns. Those things were originally modeled to take down Laura so anyone else who gets hit with it may suffered a lot more than just being out cold." At her response Logan and the others were about to become pale until she went on, "As I said don't worry. I managed to absorb the extra electricity from her became it became hazardous. She'll be knocked out for a while but for the most part she's fine."

Everyone let out sighs of relief especially Scott. He scooped Jean up in his arms and told everyone that he would take her back to the jet and watch over her or the rest of the mission. No one argued as John teleported them back to the jet and let them alone. Now they just had to plan for the next attack without two of their main mutants.

Suddenly Kurt fell to his knees, feeling dazed and weak, also slightly slurred. John and Gen caught him before he could fall face down on the ground. They helped him to his feet but it was already too late. He was out cold all thanks to the drug bullet that was shot into him earlier.

Logan growled at the new development. Now they lost two of their main hitters and they were done one teleporter in case an emergency happened. Plus there was still the chance of being more of soldiers on the inside with even greater weapons. Things had just taken a turn for the worse. But that's when he realized something.

"Where is Laura?"

At his question the younger mutants tensed up and looked off into the distance, hoping not to meet his speculative gaze. If they did there would be a very scary stare off in which the kids would most likely lose. Seriously its Wolverine. Would you be confident in your ability to stare the man down?

Unfortunately when Iceman and Jubilee tried to move out of his radar of detection he stomped over to the both of them, took hold of their shoulders, and forcefully turned them towards him. It was here that they met the all knowing, ferocious look known as Logan's glare.

"Laura went off to find Marcus by herself." Bobby and Jubilee said at the same time. And after only two and a half seconds under the glare. A new record.

"Why didn't you tell me she was gone?" Logan asked through clenched teeth.

"By the time we found out she had left it was already too late." Bobby explained, fear still present in his eyes. "When we did, we rushed out of the jet to find her but then those rockets were about to hit Kurt and the others so-"

"Okay. I get." Logan interrupted him as he removed his hands from the young mutants' shoulders and pinch the bridge of his nose. This was just great. Now there was a medium sized girl capable of unknown amounts of destruction roaming around the place where her most hated enemies were stationed with untold weapons of destruction. He knew he should've left the kids at home.

"Wolverine," Phoebe's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "we have to hurry and get into that base. If Gauntlet is able to get to the weapon's storage then things are only going to get worse."

Logan knew she was right and had everyone move out. As the mutants rushed to their main target Logan still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling growing inside him. Something was wrong and he knew he needed one question to be answered. If Laura was out and about why were things still so quiet?

_**Ka-boom!!**_

An explosion was heard in the far back of the base. Everyone heard it but only Logan had the unspoken thought in his head. ***"There she is."***

* * *

Marcus and Laura's battle...

Marcus and Laura jumped to separate sides as Madame Viper blasted them with a large lightning attack, decimating their original standing spot. Laura landed on the far left side of the warehouse but quickly kicked off to run at the Hydra commander with her claws extended, pure rage channeling through her.

Madame Viper readied herself for Laura by activating the device again and switching to a full body armor plating. Laura came upon and slashed at her multiple times intending for a killing blow but her new ability only made Laura's strikes come out as dents or large scratches. After another lash Viper went on the offensive and drew her fist back for a punch but Laura dodge rolled away from her in time before she suffered any major damage.

Marcus also had his hands full as he fought against Damon Cross. The older shadow bender was matching Marcus as the two fought with their shadow swords. Their blades clashed again and again as either one tried to gain the upper hand. Suddenly as Damon went in for a downward slash that Marcus blocked, the military man took one hand off his blade and brought it up, summoning a dark tentacle that rushed at Marcus.

He narrowly dodged it by jumping into the air but doing so left himself unguarded as Damon shot a dark wave at his gut while he was still in mid air. Damon didn't stop there as he shot himself off the ground and kneed the boy in the same place. The air was instantly knocked out of Marcus as he felt the pain from his stomach catch up to him and also the force of that knee was enough to send him rocketing off to the second floor.

He managed to right himself and put his feet on the ceiling in order to launch himself back to the older mutant with a glowing pulled back fist. When Damon came close enough Marcus shot the concentrated dark wave at Damon causing some of his shadow armor to break away. The white haired military man didn't fall back from the blast and when his came back onto the ground he jumped back up to slam the young teenager again.

Marcus saw him coming and opted to pull up a barrier that stopped Cross in his tracks and allowed him to push the old man away from him and into some of his machinery. Marcus landed on the ground for only a second before pulling his barrier back up as Damon got back up and fire five dark orbs at the boy. Then the older shadow bender pulled out his sword and launched himself at Marcus and when he was almost there Marcus released his shield and shot another large shadow wave at Damon. Marcus mentally cheered when he saw the blast connect to Damon, but he dismayed the older man turned black and disappeared!

"What the-" was all Marcus could say before Damon reappeared next to him and hit him with a shadow fist point blank in the face! Marcus was flown away from Damon before he crashed to the ground once then got back up again, the shoulder parts of his shadow armor gone.

"What the heck did you do?" he questioned as he tensed himself before they fought again. Damon smirked at his old friend's son as he folded his now armor less arms and answered, "A shadow copy. A pretty simple substitution move to get one out of harms way. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Marcus answered though on the inside he was probably thinking 'why didn't I ever think of that!' Their conversation was cut off when a lightning blast was shot between them. Their looked to their lefts to see Madame Viper and Laura appear next to them both slightly cut up and still very pissed off from their scramble.

Unfortunately Marcus just had to ask, "So how's it going? You make any progress?" Laura glared at him which made him place his hands over his mouth before she set her sights back on Viper. "It'll be progressive when I rip her head off." "I'd like to see you try you little brat." The hydra commander spat back before she glowered at Damon, "And why are you talking with him? Hurry up and take him down so we can end this already!"

Laura looked at Marcus again and said, "The same goes for you." before she launched herself back at Madame Viper, claws fully extended. Viper did the same and the two went sprawling away from the men to continue their long overdue fight. Marcus and Damon looked at each other like two guys whose girlfriends just left them alone to fight. Which was kinda what they were. "Violent bunch those two." Damon said before he got back into his stance.

"Yeah," replied Marcus doing the same, "but they're right." Both men remade their swords and allowed more of their armor to fade away. They stared at each other for a few seconds before they jumped from their positions and resumed their fight.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Logan and the others were pushing through the forces of Hydra a lot easier than they expected. Granted the soldiers were trained fighters and with they had help of the mutant absorption devices but for some reason it just wasn't enough to stop the X-men. With this in mind it was understandable to see Gauntlet grind his teeth as he saw more of hydra men get taken down by their enemies. He knew that Madame Viper had left to contend with X23 herself and thus left him and Omega Red in charge of everything else but something was wrong. The soldiers were having trouble using the devices and those who managed to work them were immediately overrun by the meddlesome good mutants. To make matters worse Omega was out of commission and now Hydra was on the brink of losing.

"Dammit!" yelled Gauntlet as he slammed his hand on the desk next to him where an array of weapons lied. Why was everything going wrong?! They had the advantage of numbers yet the X-men were breaking through! How was this possible?! He was about to lash out at the desk again when he saw something promising on the monitors...

Logan and his mutants stood perfectly still as they faced down the new armada of soldiers that had their stun guns set to max. The new guys were clothed in dark red military helmets and clothing while the Hydra men wore all black. This made the heroes go with the assumption that these men were in league with Cross. Which meant things were going to get really bad. A deadly silence hung around the room as everyone waited for whatever was going to happen next. Logan tensed up ready to do anything to make sure nobody died as he looked at Phoebe from the corner of his eye and knew she was ready to do the same. Both leaders turned to face the Cross soldier in front of them who looked like he was in charge of the others.

"Ready!" he yelled and on cue both Cross and Hydra soldier readied their weapons. "Set!" The X-men prepared themselves for whatever may come. Then it happened...

"Now!" yelled the Cross soldier before he and all the other men like him opened fore on the Hydra soldiers. Since there were more of them and less of the battle weary Hydra men it the short brawl was over in a matter of seconds before most of the Hydra troops were either defeated on the ground or retreating.

Once that was over the Cross soldiers took up their positions at the doors while the main one strode over to the baffled X-men. When he was a few feet from Logan, he removed his helmet to show a man with a blond crew cut hairdo and blue eyes of hardened years of being a soldier. He looked at Logan and asked, "You want an explanation?"

"That would be good." Wolverine retorted, giving the soldier his own glare. "Why are you here?" Logan asked in a not trusting tone. The soldier wasn't affected by it that much since he calmly answered, "Same as you. We're here to take down Hydra..." His features shifted to a cold stare, "..and we intend to put them down once and for all."

"How long has this been going on?" Phoebe asked as she stepped forward not intimidated by his look.

"Long enough." he replied looking at both mutant leaders. "Don't worry we no longer have any interest in you or your girl. Our orders are to let you go free and destroy Hydra once our boss has what he needs." The man turned around to leave them to carry out his orders when Phoebe stopped him, "And what about Marcus?"

The man stopped in his tracks as if he considered answering them. He didn't turn around to look at them as he responded, "The kid should be fine but you should hurry up and find him." "Why?" He turned around and his face was stoic, "Once we make sure that all the soldiers are defeated we plan to bomb this base to the ground."

The X-men stood stunned by his words. They were gonna blow the place. "Why would you do something like that?" "Because its what we do and no one gets in the way of it." His tone was cold and authoritative as he retorted Logan's question which made growl in anger while Phoebe had to hold him back from attacking the man.

"Logan we don't have time for this." she said as she turned around and looked him dead in the eye,"We need to find Marcus and Laura and get out of here. **That** is our number one objective." Her words worked to calm the former Weapon X down as he backed off her and nodded. Phoebe turned her head to regard the soldier, "Where is Marcus?"

The man put his helmet back on before answering, "He's in the back of the base in the warehouse. You still have some time before the timers detonate the bombs that are around the compound." He pulled out his stun gun and set it to high once again as he got ready to direct his troops through the base and to their escape planes. He looked at the X-men one last time as he said, "I wish you luck."

"Oh they're not to ones who need luck."

Suddenly a flash of white lightning cut through the room setting off many explosions as the X-men and Cross soldiers moved quickly to escape the blast zone. They kept running as they tried to escape the maniacal laughter chasing after them until they turned a corner that would have had them trapped if not for Phoebe who blasted them a way out. The twelve X-men and five Cross soldiers jumped through the hole as they narrowly escaped another explosion.

Fire danced around the hole as the heroes and double agents turned around to see who it was that was after them. It was here that they saw deadliest sight of all when Gauntlet appeared through the flames.

The hydra mercenary was still adorned in his green cloak with a rocket launcher attached to his back as he stared down at both of his enemies with dark menacing eyes. He raised his hands out to his sides and revealed a mutant ability device that he activated instantly. Wolverine and the others sucked in their breaths at the sight of Gauntlet who was wielding the energy blasts in both of his hands. He raked them all with a feral demented grin before he opened fire on them, manically laughing all the way.

The heroes ducked and dodged the multiple energy shots as they jumped behind a large rock for cover from the power crazed mutant. Right now Gauntlet was having too much fun to care about anything. He had new found powers that he was using to destroy the X-men and the traitors that worked for Cross. This was gonna be one helluva show.

Phoebe and Logan crouched behind the rock the rest of the X-men and the three Cross soldiers were using to shield themselves from the maniacal Hydra assassin's attack. This was definitely not going the way they hoped it would and now they needed a way to get past Mr. Psycho blaster over there. "Okay does anyone have a plan?" Logan asked everyone around him.

"We can't just stay here and cower from that man. We need to hurry up and put and end to this," Storm said before she turned her gaze to the Cross soldier, "Those bombs of yours are set to go off in any minute right?" "Yes." he answered looking over the rock to see the situation before ducking down again as another blast came close to his head.

"So what would be he best way to beat that guy?" asked Iceman,who crouched next to Jubilee and the twins. Logan, Phoebe, and the soldier peered over once more to see the crazed look in Gauntlet's eyes as he kept panting over the exertion of using the mutant ability so much. From the looks of it he was completely transfixed on where the heroes were but judging from his labored breathing he wouldn't be standing too long and that was how they were going to get him.

The three leaders turned back around to regard their charges as they thought of something that may work.

"Okay here's the plan..."

Gauntlet finally stopped panting and raised his arms out to blast anything that got in his way. Unfortunately he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever and the quicker he put down his enemies the better. The hydra assassin narrowed his gaze to find out where they were hiding and slowly began walking forward. After taking a few steps he came to a halt when he heard something rustle around him. Bringing his new power to the maximum he let his fists glow with energy as he readied himself to blast anything that moved.

Silence settled over the battlefield as he waited...and waited,,,and-

"Now!" The order was heard throughout the area as four of the X-men and the three double agent soldiers jumped up from their hiding spots and shot their projectile attacks at Gauntlet who countered with his own super burst. The result was a collision of energy that exploded between the heroes and villain and forced them away from each other. The soldiers got back up quickly and resumed their shooting only to Gauntlet recover as well and match their bullets with small energy blasts that went through the bullets and hit the soldiers.

With them out of the way Gauntlet turned his attention back to the X-men to finish them off but found that they were on the move again. He whipped his head around to see Beast and Wolverine appear before him and deck him with two strong punches. The mutant of Hydra staggered back from their punches only to find another attack waiting for him in the form of Tamara and Gen. The power couple pulled back their fists and leveled him with a titanium and super strengthened combo that knocked him into the air and back towards the Hydra base.

Gauntlet forced himself to his knees and looked back to see the mutant fighters standing before him. He pressed down on the mutant device to get a healing ability but was shocked to see that it only fizzled. He pressed it again and again but each time nothing had happened. Then the device sparked one more time before it broke into pieces. It was gone. His trump card in this battle was gone.

"Looks you can't switch powers anymore." Bobby said in a smug way as he stood with the others ready to blast the man if he tried anything. "Too bad for you huh?"

"Iceman shut it." Wolverine said as he stepped forward and stopped a couple of feet in front of Gauntlet with his claws drawn. "It's over Gauntlet. Give up and we'll let you go. If not then we'll throw you off he island."

Now enraged beyond belief, Gauntlet clenched his fists as he tried to think of a way out of this but his anger made him stay. He felt that he couldn't go unless he spilled at least one X-men's blood. He had already lost fights to either Laura, Marcus, and now he would lose to Wolverine as well.

***"No!"*** he thought as he looked up at Logan with eyes burning with rage. He was through with losing and he would make damn sure that someone died tonight. With that thought driving him, Gauntlet did the only thing he knew how to do. He prepared himself to kill those who had spurned him.

Jumping away from the heroes so that he was in the middle of the base Gauntlet removed the rocket launcher from his back and aimed it at them. The mutants and soldiers looked equally surprised as he whipped out the explosive weapon so quickly and instinctively backed away from him. "That's right back away and make it easier for me. All I need is one good shot and all of you are dead," the assassin said as he smirked wickedly at them, "and if you try to blast me you'll set off this rocket and end up killing yourselves and me."

Logan and the others stopped dead in their tracks while the former Weapon X tried to think of another way to get the others out of this mess. He could tell from the way Gauntlet's eyes looked that the mutant was only a few steps away from either shooting that thing off and killing all of the X-men or setting it off killing himself and possibly everything else around him. One false move and death to somebody.

Gauntlet watched as the heroes tensed at whatever he was about to do next and loved every moment of it. He was in control of their fates. One pull of a trigger and he'd end the banes of his existence. Well at least one of them anyways. His smirked grew to a demented smile as he knew what knew what he wanted to do next. Balancing the launcher on one shoulder with his finger still on the trigger, Gauntlet, reached for one of his guns, pulled it out, and aimed it at Phoebe.

Wolverine was going to say something but he was too late as Gauntlet pulled the trigger. The bullet taking off resonated in the hall as it left the gun and went immediately for the green haired mutant. She would have been lost had Gen not stepped in and blocked ricocheted the bullet off his metal skin. The bullet bounce off the metallic halls for a full minute before it hit a target no wanted it to hit. It hit Gauntlet.

The next thing that happened would set everything else in motion.

* * *

Going back to our main two teenagers...

Marcus and Laura stood side to side panting loudly as they stared down at their enemies who were in a similar state of exhaustion. The warehouse was now a major wreck after the last explosion and now huge holes of smoking crater and sparking machinery occupied all space. All the while the four fighters haven't lost their drive to defeat one another.

Marcus and Damon were down to the last parts of their shadow armor which was mostly in the pants area while their normal shirts finally returned. Glancing at the women to their sides, the shadow benders realized that the battle was far from over between them but in their current condition they would keel over any second now. Looking back at each other they knew what the other thought and nodded their heads.

The two men proceeded to drop their hands onto their female partner's arms and closed their eyes. Viper and Laura looked at them in confusion till they saw strange lights begun to shine over the shadow benders. Laura recognized that crimson glow from that time in the forest where she first met Marcus and knew what he was doing. He was using the last of his shadow armor to heal her wounds.

She would have felt grateful to him had she not realized that Damon could do the same thing now that he had Marcus's powers. She looked over to her enemies and sure enough the white haired shadow mutant was working his ability on Madame Viper, healing her cuts, bruises, and even her clothing as well. She growled as Marcus finished the healing and collapsed to one knee, his armor completely spent and gone. Damon also collapsed to his knee to take in a short breath before he and the Stanford boy stood back up.

She turned her head to him and asked, "Why did you do that?" He looked at her with a face that said "Duh, to help you out of course". She returned his look with a glare s she retorted, "But you knew he had your powers and that he could do the same for Viper." "Yeah I knew that." he replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Well why?!" "Because you're not done yet." His answer elicited confusion from both her and Viper until Damon folded his arms and explained, "There's a lot of anger flowing between you two, so much so that if you could you would tear each other apart for years to come. So we've decided to replenish your health so that you two can continue to battle each other to your heart's content." A smile etched on Damon's face as he added, "Think of it as a small gift."

Laura looked back to Marcus to see if what the older man was saying was true and when he nodded she didn't know how to feel. Gratitude for her better health was one, anger over the idea that Marcus thought she was an anger obsessed girl, and even a little joy in the idea of kicking the spit out of Viper's butt a little while longer. All in all she only nodded to Marcus as a thanks and moved back into her fighting form to begin again.

"How much longer can you keep fighting?" she asked keeping her gaze on Viper. Marcus conjured up his shadow blade the same time Damon did and replied, "Not much but I can help out as long as I can. Oh and while I'm at it." He raised his hand and summoned a shadow wave that he commanded to go to lower and gather onto her hands and feet. Laura frowned at what he had done. "What are you doing?"

"Hey if Viper can hit you with elemental stuff, you should be able to hit her with a shadow fist. It's only fair." Marcus answered with his usual carefree grin before he shifted to his one handed sword stance. Laura did the same met the eyes of Madame Viper who now had the ability of lightning coursing through her body, in a staring contest. The staring lasted for a few minutes until the teenage duo launched themselves at their enemies with a renewed vigor.

Marcus and Damon traded bladed blow for blow as Laura and Viper dueled each other with elemental strikes from their fists and feet. Both sides had each other into a deadlock until Marcus managed to get close and uppercut Damon with a shadow fist launching him into the air and out of the warehouse. Damon rightened himself as his feet connected to the ground before he jumped further away as Marcus came crashing down at him. After touching the ground Marcus took off after man again and met him in mid air as he swung his blade at Damon's throat. Damon blocked his attempt with his own sword and the two struggled to get the bigger hand over the other as they came into contact with the grass filled ground again.

The two locked eyes and both sets of midnight blue stared down at each other as Marcus gritted his teeth as he continued to push Damon back and defeat him. Unfortunately Damon made the first move and shifted to his right side, leaving Marcus to almost fall over from being unbalanced and open to Damon's shadow attack. Damon punched the boy in the face and followed it up with another and another and when he tried to do it again, Marcus caught his fist and went in to knee the man in the stomach.

When the knee connected Damon felt all the air leave his lungs and spit come out of his mouth and before he could do anything else Marcus kicked him in the cheek sending him off toward the Hydra main building. Marcus chased after the man intent on keeping up his attack and when he finally cornered the man he went in for a slash. However the Damon he slashed into was another shadow copy and when it disintegrated the real Damon sprung out from the trees and pinned Marcus to the wall of the compound via a foot to the back.

Damon smirked as he pressed Marcus further into the wall while the boy groaned in pain. Deciding to press it further, pun intended, Damon removed his foot only to kick Marcus in the back. He did it again and again until finally the Stanford mutant moved from the spot allowing his enemy's foot to get stuck in the wall. Marcus took the advantage to grab the back of Damon's neck and smash his face into the wall, breaking it down completely and leaving a big hole in it wake.

Marcus was about to go through the hole to continue the fight only to hear the sounds of a projectile coming his way from the back. He and Damon quickly moved from the spot as something crashed into the building producing an even bigger hole than the last one and exploded unto the floor, the shockwave of it sent both shadow benders to the other side of room. They crashed into the wall and fell onto their backs in a painful hiss before Damon looked up to see where he was. When he got a good look around his mouth gaped open at how bad it looked...

* * *

While that went on...

Laura and Viper were completely oblivious to what was happening around them as they continued their battle landing blow for blow. Laura went in for a left hook to Viper's face only to have the older woman block her attempt and strike her with an punch of her own. Laura cringed at the feel of lightning hitting her but she pressed on and grabbed Viper's arm to pull the older woman over her shoulder and slam her into the dirt.

She pulled her fist back to punch the Hydra commander only to be grabbed by the front of her shirt and thrown forward into the ground. She quickly moved her feet as Viper got up at the same time and sent a blast of lightning at the X clone. Laura moved to her side completely avoiding the blast and rushed at Viper to pin her down. Viper tried to stop the girl with a kick but Laura smacked it away and returned with a spinning kick that forced Viper near the main Hydra headquarters.

Viper fell to the ground in a heap before the pain of the battle caught up with her as she tried to get to her feet before X23 came for her. When she finally did she looked forward to see Damon slamming the Stanford boy into wall of her base. She inwardly smirked at how he was treating that boy and decided she should do the same thing to the little weapon that continues to defy her. She readied herself for Laura's next attack as the self healing girl emerged from the dark woods intending punch the woman.

Viper caught her punch in her palm and threw the girl over her shoulder intending to injure her but Laura managed to catch herself and grab Viper by her arm and reverse the throw, sending the Hydra leader flying in the air. Viper landed back on her feet a few feet away from Marcus and Damon when she looked up and saw coming at her with a crimson engulfed fist. Viper, still having the lightning ability, pulled her fist back as it crackled with energy before she and Laura's fists connected creating a large explosion.

The women continued their fight as they moved through the hole that they left and into the room that was completely dark for them to see anything but each other. They were still going at it as they continued to tear into each other until they jumped away from each other to gather their strength for a bigger attack.

Pulling back their glowing fists they stared at each other with contempt as they got ready to strike. After a second or two they launched from their spots and-

"Stop!!"

They halted immediately and turned their heads to see Damon and Marcus looking at them with fear in their eyes. The two women raised a brow at their apparent fear but it was Laura who asked, "What's wrong with you two?"

"Viper," Damon called the woman, "Don't you realize where we are?" His question made the Hydra leader actually let go off her charged attack and look around but when she did her look of shock matched Damon's a second ago.

All around her were a stockpile of guns, bombs, and other artillery that Hydra sold and bought over the years and that's when it hit her. They were in the explosive room in the whole compound. One blast, one shock, one single wrong movement. They'd be dead in less than a minute.

Now knowing this Viper turned to look at Laura and say, "A truce until we can get somewhere safer." Laura took a second to look around and check her surroundings before she nodded to the proposal. With that done all four of them turned to leave out the hole when Viper's radio started beeping. She pulled it out and asked, "What is it?"

"Mad-zzt-Viper X-men-zzt- overpowering-zzt- Gauntlet.-zzt Bombs.-zzt- fight-zzt- lost.-zzt Must—zzt-zzt -zzt."

The radio went dead as Viper tried to peace together what was just said but a second later she didn't have to. Three large explosions could be heard coming from the front of the base and from them triggered an unbalance in the whole base making it shake violently and have some of the walls fall apart. When the four in the artillery room realized that more explosions may come and it would somehow lead here...

"We should be running away now." Marcus said as he grabbed Laura's wrist and pulled her along with him so that they could escape from the place only to have her break away from his grip. "I'm not leaving." she growled at him making the shadow bender do a double take on her with wide eyes of shock. "What are you talking about? You can't stay here."

Laura turned around to see Viper pinning her with the same evil look the shorter mutant was giving her. God she hated this woman. She pointed an adamantium claw at Viper and said, "So long as she's alive I'll never be free. She's never going to give up on hunting me down and bringing me back here." Laura got into a fighting stance as she pulled out the rest of her claws, "I'm going to make sure she's dead this time."

"And this time I'm going to make sure to pound obedience into your disobedient skull. You will become the weapon Hydra made you to be." Viper retorted as she readied herself to attack the young clone again but felt a hand on her arm. She turned around to see Damon looking at her with a serious gaze.

"Madame I'm afraid that the boy is telling the truth. We can't stay here if those explosions were what I think they are." "But you promised me that X23 would be in my grasp if I helped you with the boy. What about our deal?" "The deal still stands but I can't help you if you die from an explosion in your own base. We have to retreat for today and plan for another day."

"Never!" roared the commander of Hydra as she looked back at Laura before activating the mutant device again and reading herself to attack. "We finish this today!" she yelled before she launched herself at the former X23. "My thoughts exactly!" Laura retorted before she took off as well and the two collided into each other, acting as if their previous battle was still going on. They continued to battle and move threw the rocking base and falling debris until they reached a staircase and leapt upstairs to continue their battle leaving the two guys behind.

"Dammit, why are they so stubborn?" Damon growled as he watched the fleeting form of the two women bent on killing each other. Marcus folded his arms before he answered, "I really don't know about Viper but I'm pretty sure Laura gets it from her old man. Personally its a little annoying after a while but you learn to accept it."

Damon looked at the boy in a puzzled manner before it shifted to a smug smirk when he asked, "Have you two reached that kind of-" "One we're just friends." Marcus snapped cutting the older man off, "and that falls under the category of none of your business." The white haired mutant held his hands up in surrender and backed away from the boy, "Point taken young Marcus."

He turned toward the staircase and made towards them but stopped and asked, "Aren't you going to stop your girl?" Marcus frowned at the old man as he said, "She's not my girl." and took off running in front of him to get to the stairs. Damon smirked at the boy before he picked up his speed as well before another piece of the ceiling fell on him.

* * *

On the other side of the base...

Logan and Phoebe were running for their lives as the entire base shook from the explosions from earlier as they tried to look for the only two people missing from their team. The others had been told to head back to the X jet just in case they needed to make a hasty exit and the Cross soldiers had left them to attend to their own people and get off the base before their bombs could destroy everything else.

The heroes crossed another hallway and went two flights of stairs before Logan picked up on the distinct sounds of a battle going on. He sniffed around and caught the scent of two people he knew would be duking it out. Laura and Viper. Now that he had a direction to go on he grabbed Phoebe by the shoulder and lead her down the hallway to the right where he bumped into someone slightly shorter than him.

Half expecting the person to be a soldier Logan drew his claws and stood over him ready to take him down if needed. It wasn't till a second later when he got a good look at the mystery guy that Wolverine realized he bumped into Marcus, who was sitting on the floor rubbing his hurt head.

Marcus looked up to see Logan looking down at him with his claws out and felt a bit scared over it. Could you blame him though? "Uh hey, Mr. Logan. Long time no see." he said in a sheepish manner as he stood up.

"Yeah good to see you too kid." Phoebe came up behind the former Weapon X and as soon as she saw Marcus she crossed the space between them and gave the teenager a fierce hug. Marcus returned the hug and a second later Phoebe broke away from him and charged her fist with lightning as she saw a sight she seriously hated. Damon Cross coming up the stairs.

She was about to attack him when Marcus appeared in front of her and pulled her power back. Looking completely baffled she asked him what he was doing. Marcus answered, "He's not important anymore. Getting off this island before we get blown to kingdom come is." "But after everything he's done. To us. To you. How can you let him go?" the lightning user said through clenched teeth.

Marcus leveled her with a gaze that told her how serious he was. "Phoebe we're going to make him pay one day. We will. But not right now. If we try anything right now, we're going to guarantee ourselves an early grave." Phoebe calmed down a bit at his words since she knew he was right but it still didn't make it easy. She really wanted to blast the man behind her friend.

Wolverine stepped forward and when he noticed that there was a certain girl not with Marcus he asked, "Where's Laura?" Marcus turned his attention to Laura's supposed father and answered, "She went up the stairs to Viper. I tried to get her to leave but she seems intent on finishing the fight between the two."

Wolverine cursed at his words since he knew Laura wouldn't be one to let this one go. She had been wronged by these people and she was going to make sure they bled for it. Yep she was his daughter all right. Going towards the stairs he looked back at Marcus, Phoebe, and Cross, "Come on. We have to catch up with her and get out of here."

"Logan." Marcus called the older man stopping him in his tracks, "Let me go after Laura. You and Phoebe can head back to the X jet." Logan turned on the teenager with his fury mounted as he growled and retorted, "Are you out of your damn mind?"

Marcus shrugged before he answered, "Maybe so but I have a better chance of getting Laura out of here thanks to my powers. I've got one more good teleportation in me before I'm spent and I can only use on two people right now. Because of that you two need to have the Jet ready to get everyone out of here."

Logan didn't appear to be swayed but Marcus stepped in front of him showing no signs of backing out of this debate. "Logan I can do this. You trusted me to help Laura fit in and be her friend so trust me to get her out of this safely." Everyone stood silent as they waited for Logan to make a decision while the base around them was still coming down and the remaining bombs were still ticking to their final countdown. Logan looked into Marcus's eyes to see the conviction the boy held and knew that there was one thing was true about this kid. He definitely took this friend role seriously when it came to Laura. That coupled with the fact that everything the shadow bender said was true made Wolverine realize that there was only one thing he could do for the two of them. "You'd better be ready to get out of her with her by your side. Or I'll rip your heart out got it?"

Marcus grinned his carefree smile at the older man. "Got it. See you two in a bit." He said as he went past them to continue up the stairs with Damon on his tail. Logan and Phoebe stood there and watched their rising forms up the stairs for several seconds before they took off as well. Now it all came down to whether or not Marcus can sway Laura from something she's wanted to do for as long as she was born. To ask a girl that was every bit as ferocious as Wolverine himself and even more to let her most hated and deadliest enemy go free. Yeah that was easier than done. Maybe next Marcus could convince Magneto to come to Xavier's side and begin a new era of peace to all.

* * *

We turn to the final battle already in progress...

The Hydra base was in shambles now thanks to Gauntlet's mistake of using a rocket launcher to solve his problems. Smoke bellowed out of the many craters and cracks in the building while some parts of the island were on fire. Truly this place had become a battlefield. But to the two women standing face to face on the Hydra base's roof, everything else in the world didn't matter. Only their fight did.

Laura and Viper had taken a small break from their fight to catch their breaths and let their healing abilities take care of their wounds. The battle hardened women panted through their exhaustion stared at each other with a hatred for each other so potent that it would slice thorough the air. After another couple of minutes of staring they finally stopped their healing and got ready to attack again. After another second of waiting they charged for each other pulling back their fists, ready to deal more damage to each other. As soon as their fists were about to come into contact they found their attempts blocked. Their blockers: Marcus and Damon. The two shadow benders held on to the fists of their female partners to finally put a stop to their battle, which of course only served to irritate them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Laura and Viper asked at the same time as they wrenched their hands out of the grips of their so called partners. Marcus was the one to respond to their question, "We're here to stop you two from making a big mistake." "The only mistake you're making is getting in my way Cross. Now move it."

Damon shook his head as he folded his arms and looked the woman in the eye, "Madame please listen to reason. If you don't stop this now both you and the girl will end up dead. It's best if you retreat for today and plan for tomorrow."

"No so long as that girl lives, she's mine. I made her into a weapon and I will have her back under my command." retorted Viper as she pushed Damon aside making her way towards her target who also was moving toward her as well only to have the two guys they associated with stand in their way again.

"Why are you two still so bloody stubborn?" Damon said through clenched teeth. "Are you honestly so stuck on this that you'll both kill each other over it?" "Yes!" they both replied at the same time eliciting sweatdrops from Marcus and Damon. "Should've figured." Marcus grumbled before he looked Laura straight in her green eyes with his now midnight blue eyes and said, "Look Laura I know that woman has done horrible things to you and made you suffer all your life but you can't keep thinking of how much she's screwed you over. You have to move on."

Laura narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth at the shadow bender. Did he really just tell her to move on?! "You actually expect me to forget about everything she's done and just let her go free?!" "Go free for today yes. Forget about everything she's done to you hell no." Marcus answered earning a confused look from the girl but hey at least now she wasn't angry.

"Look Laura I know how you feel. I do. I had the same anger when I found out Cross here took my mom. I hated him to a level I never thought I could and spent years trying to find him. Then asshole here pulls the "your mom's dead" thing on me and you saw how that worked out." Marcus paused his words to sigh as the vague moment where he snapped and tried to hurt anyone in his way. "Laura that kind of thing can make you do stupid things and sometimes things you wish you could take back."

"But I don't want to take this back. Because of her I don't have anything but pain and misery." "You know that isn't true!" Marcus proclaimed seizing the girl by he shoulders, "Over the past month you've gained family, friends, and new place to call home. Even if everyone there is afraid of you they still like and want to see you alive and well and you know it!" "WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE?!" "BECAUSE I'M ONE OF THEM OKAY?! I DON'T WANT TO SEE MY FRIEND DYING FROM SOMETHING I COULD HAVE STOPPED! I'VE ALREADY ALMOST LOST MY FAMILY SO I'M NOT LOSING YOU TWO!

Laura and Marcus paused as they let the last words Marcus said registered in their minds. Marcus sheepishly turned away from her two look out to the sea as a small blush marked his brown face which caused a small chuckle to be heard by Damon.

Laura for her part stared at the boy as she did the many times he did something that surprised her. He had saved her life, fought by her side, helped her establish a new life, and generally done many things all in the quest for helping her. Why would he do all this? What was he after? What was it that made him do so much for her? She had to know. She was about to say something when-

_**Ka-boom!!**_

An explosion was heard on the far west side of the island turning the four people on top of the roof's attention towards it. "What the-"

_**Ka-boom!! Ka-boom!! Ka-boom!!**_

This time more explosions followed and the whole island shook from the powerful waves. Marcus and the others stumbled to their knees when they felt the roof staring to move and Marcus asked, "What the heck's going on?!"

Damon's ear piece suddenly beeped and when he listened to it everything became clear, "It's SHIELD. They've must of found us through that X jet." Damon explained as he moved closer to Madame Viper. "They plan to bomb the entire island to kingdom come to get rid of me and Viper." Marcus looked surprised and Laura was pretty stoic about. Probably since she'd already lived through an explosion like this. "What about us?!" asked the shadow bender as the roof shook again.

Damon shrugged and replied, "Casualty of war I guess." The white haired military man turned around and grabbed the commander of Hydra by the waist, eliciting a squeak of surprise from her. "Madame as it stands, we have to leave now. If we stay here SHIELD will kill you and I'm not going to let that happen."

Viper looked the man in his teal orbs ready to argue but when she considered everything that was happening, she knew that retreat was the only option left. "Fine Cross." She looked to her side to eye Laura in the eyes as a declaration of war, "This is not over X23. I will claim you once more."

"And I'll be ready to gut you on the spot." Laura replied. The women bowed their heads to each other before Damon released her from his arms. The man looked out to the horizon to see the rising sun and said, "There's not much time left before your shadow powers are left useless Marcus. I hope you have an escape plan."

Damon pulled out another mutant device that was in his pocket. He pressed a button and a dark portal appeared next to him and the commander, which they quickly stepped into. "Farewell." Marcus and Laura rushed to get through the portal before it closed but to their dismay, the floor under them finally collapsed under the explosions and the two fell through the roof.

Thinking quickly Laura grabbed Marcus's hand and used her other hand to grab onto a safety railing that was luckily sticking out. Not really feeling the weight of both of them tying her down, Laura helped Marcus pull himself up and now the two were hanging on for their lives from the tenth floor of the base with nothing else to grab onto and a base on the verge of exploding under them. Okay they seriously needed a plan.

The two teens looked everywhere for anything but there wasn't anything in sight. Marcus sighed at their predicament while Laura continued to look and when her gaze went to the shadow bender next to her she did a double take. What was that? "What do you have in your back pocket?" she asked.

Marcus looked at her in confusion before he actually did feel something move back there that wasn't there before. He moved one hand of the railing and searched through it to find something round and-

Round?! Marcus immediately pulled out the object and beamed with joy when he saw what it was. It was another mutant ability device! And it was in perfect condition! They finally had a way out! "All right! Let's-" was all Marcus could say before another explosion took place under them forcing the railing they were on to break off from the wall and send the two plummeting to the ground.

The two looked down to see the inevitable fire coming for them and did the only thing they could do at the moment. They latched onto each other and Marcus pressed the button, hoping that it would work.

"Logan we don't have much time! We have to go!" Phoebe said as the X jet hovered in the air still on the island since Logan wanted to wait for Laura and Marcus. Unfortunately the island was being blown away from the bombs from Damon's men and if the X-men didn't clear out soon they were going to be dead as well. Logan knew that he couldn't endanger the rest of the team and knew that Marcus said that he would bring Laura back safe but the man still didn't want to go yet. His daughter was still here dammit!

Logan growled in his throat before he pressed a button and got out of his chair. "Storm get them out of here. I'm going back for-"

But before he could even say their names, Laura and Marcus suddenly appeared inside the X jet from a dark portal. When everyone on board looked down on the floor to see the two they were met with a fairly weird sight. Laura and Marcus were cuddling up to each other with tightly closed eyes. Everyone didn't know what to say but luckily Logan's dad instincts kicked in.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER BOY?!" he yelled with drawn claws and a face full of patented Wolverine anger. This served to snap the two out of their scared state and look around. When they saw that everyone was looking at them they took a look at themselves and blushed from the close contact for a few seconds before breaking it up and moving away from each other.

Complete silence filled the jet before another explosion happened and the mutants remembered something more important than the little hugging the two teenagers were engaged in. "Uh shouldn't we be getting out of here?" Marcus asked as Logan quickly took the ships controls and had the X jet off the ground in seconds. The jet managed to gain a lot of distance as the Hydra island exploded into a giant mushroom cloud that they managed to see through their windows. As they watched the battlefield fade from their windows the mutants inside heaved a big sigh of relief. It was finally over.

"Can we finally go home now?" Marcus asked as he slumped on the ground, completely exhausted from everything that happened before the twin Lida and Teresa glomped him into a big hug. "Marcus it's been so long!!" they exclaimed as tears went down their cheeks before they added, "We thought for sure that you were dead!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." he replied in a grimace before hugging the two of them back. After that he and Laura shook hands with everyone as a sign of congratulations for making it back. That is until Marcus got to Wolverine and the older mutant growled, "Touch my daughter like that again and I'll gut you." His words made the shadow bender shrink from fear and Laura to blush slightly.

But with that the battles out of the way and everyone present and accounted for, there was only thing left for the heroes to do. Sit back and ride the jet back home.

* * *

_Going forward in time..._

It was a pretty calm week after the Hydra battle and now things were going through normality as usual. Marcus's mom had practically killed him and Jacob from either hugging them so much or from embarrassment from kissing them on the faces, which everyone in the vicinity laughed at. Yeah not a good idea to keep a woman from her child for so long. Afterwards Diane met Laura and the others and somehow they became friends over time.

A few days after their return, Phoebe and the others, now reunited with their families, left the mansion to pick up where their lives left off and gave the X-men a fond farewell. Not long after them Marcus and his family left for Chicago as well. The shadow bender bided farewell to his friends and when it came to Laura she said bye as well with her usual frown. When Marcus asked if she would miss him, she punched him in the shoulder earning a laugh from everyone present and even Laura herself. With that squared away Marcus left as well and for the smallest of moments a look of sadness was present on Laura's face.

Four weeks later...

Laura sat on the couch in the Rec. room of the Institute watching random shows on TV with Jubilee and Bobby beside her. It had been a pretty quiet week but soon the Professor said he would talk about sending Laura to school to hang out with her friends more if she wanted. It would take a little time before everything was ready but it would happen. Logan decided that since she would be starting school soon Jubilee and Bobby had make sure that she didn't kill anyone on the first day. It may not happen but hey it pays to be safe.

***"Attention everyone."*** Charles Xavier spoke through telepathy. Laura didn't jump from his words in her head, after getting used to it the first few times. ***"We are having some new arrivals coming in today so please gather in the main hall right now. That is all."*** The Professor was gone from their thoughts after that and the three got up and did as he asked.

After a few minutes all the students new and old were gathered in the hall the same way when Laura and Marcus first came to the Institute and awaited to see who the new people were. Most of the staff were gathered at the top of the stairs except for Wolverine who was on the first floor leaning on the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Laura, Bobby, and Jubilee walked over to him and asked if he knew who the new students were.

"Don't know." he answered and went back to looking at the others at the top of the stairs as the Professor made the announcement for things to be quiet so he could begin. Once they were he cleared his throat and said, "Thank you all for coming today and as you know we are to welcome anyone who comes here with open arms so I expect you all to be on your best behaviors." He earned chuckles from the students before it got quiet again.

"Now without further ado," he motioned for the doors beside him, "Please welcome your new fellow students."

At his words the doors opened and from them came six people. One was a green haired woman wearing a light blue tank top and light brown Capri pants. Another was a guy with glasses on his eyes and light brown hair wearing a light gray hoodie with a white shirt under it and black pants. Two more was a woman who looked to be the same age as the first one sporting spiky orange hair, a designer pink shirt and blue Capri pants, while the man was bald wearing a regular white T-shirt and blue pants. Finally came two little girls who appeared to be twins wearing matching yellow shirts and brown long skirts.

Everyone drew a gasp as they realized who these people were as the Professor said, "Meet Phoebe Madison, John Forester, Tamara Makurabe, Gen Simmons, and Lida and Teresa Martinez. I hope you all will get along well." The new guys waved at everyone for a second before the Professor continued, "And also we have someone returning as well..."

Laura felt a presence behind her and instinctively turned around to see who it was. She was as stunned as everyone else by the sight. There was a teenage boy with short black spiky hair and light blue hair, wearing a black T-shirt and brown pants standing before them with his hands in his pockets. Marcus had his usual carefree smile on his face as he said, "Hey guys, long time no see."

Xavier nodded to the boy before finishing up, "We welcome you back Marcus Stanford and we also welcome you all too. Make yourselves at home." With that the students went after the new arrivals and old one with questions and after sometime everything quieted down again and everyone left the main hall, except for four mutant friends who wanted to talk in private.

Jubilee and Bobby asked how Marcus was able to come back and he told them his mom found a new job teaching here in New York and now since they lived a lot closer he was able to come back here. It was a pretty exciting week when he got the news. "Well you could have phoned us about it you know?" Jubilee said crossing her arms. Marcus shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I wanted it to be a surprise. I actually planned to do something more cool but everyone told me to tone it down and just appear." Marcus sighed after that last part, "Man I had such a cool idea planned for it too."

"Knowing you it would be something goofy or idiotic." Laura quipped fas she folded her arms and looked at the shadow bender with a stern frown. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and answered, "Well I wouldn't say idiotic but goofy was definitely on the mark." "Idiot." she said looking away from him like a pouting teenager.

Silence fell in the hall for a few minutes as they waited for Laura to say something and when she did they let out the breaths they were holding, "So how long will you be here?" Marcus crossed the distance between the two and placed a hand on her shoulder which made the girl turn and face him. "I'm here as long as you want me to be." His words made her unfold her arms but her frown never left. She then remembered that she never got an answer from the question back at the Hydra base and decided now she would get it. "Why are you always so nice to me anyway?"

"Because I care about you just like they do." Marcus answered without skipping a beat, "And that is what friends are for."

Laura and the others stayed quiet at his words for a while until Bobby asked, "What are you? A Hallmark kid or something?" "Hey that was a good response. Lay off." Marcus retorted. Then something happened that no one expected.

Laura actually let out a girlie giggle. Her unexpected action was soon trumped when she said, "Still the same idiot as always." with something she rarely used. A natural gentle smile.

Marcus and the others gaped at the girl with their mouths open completely dazed from her actions. Marcus was the first to rebound from it and offer her a smile of his own, knowing that she was being nice when she said it. She finally gave him a compliment. This was a historic day.

Clank.

All four of them turned around to Jamie and Kurt appear in the room. From the looks of shock on their faces it was evident that they had seen everything. Well all they saw was her giggle and smile, that wasn't so bad right?

"See I told you she told you she liked him like that." Kurt joked making a blushes appear on Marcus and Laura's faces. Suddenly a snikt was heard and when everyone turned around they saw Laura back in anger mode with her claws out and a murderous gaze focused on a blue furry mutant. Bad move Kurt.

"Now Laura calm down." Marcus said trying to stop her from doing something drastic, "Kurt was just joking around. Right Kurt?" "Veah. Just joking Laura." Nightcrawler said backing out of the room slowly as he could. Soon everyone was slowly backing away from the former X23 hoping to clear some distance between them before things got out of hand.

They didn't get far. Jamie made a false move. Laura sensed it and tensed herself to pounce. "Run for it!" Marcus yelled as he ran for his life as the first one out of the room. The chase was on as the sounds of screaming could be heard for mile and an hour until something intervened.

Afterwards only the sound of teenage laughter was heard. The laughter of friends finally together again. Of families new and old coming together and mostly that of two friends in particular. Who are now able to relax and laugh it off. The friendship they share was a hard one filled with dangerous trials, close calls, and painful times but by sticking together and sharing that connection they made it through. And it was all through the help of a bond.

A Dark Bond.

Dark Bonds End.

And that my friends is the end of my first story. It was a long time coming and I hoped to be done a lot quicker than this but hey that's life. Marcus and Laura are officially friends and some explanations were given,not like how I planned but I feel it works. Sometimes to move on with a new life you gotta put the past behind you. Sometimes not by revenge but by having a reason to do so. Well that's what I think anyway.

There won't be a sequel to this if anyone was going to ask. Sorry but I can't think of anything for it and I do want to end it here. Still it was pretty fun to write this and to all those who read the story thank you for following it up to now and I hope you liked it.

Look forward to my next story Mahou Sensei Demonica: a Negima fanfic coming soon. Hopefully if college doesn't kill me first. Well that's all.

AJ Katon out.


End file.
